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CONSTITUTION  AND  ADMISSION  OF  IOWA 
INTO  THE  UNION 


Series  XVIII  No.  7 

JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES 

IN 

Historical  and   Political   Science 

HERBERT  B.  ADAMS,  Editor 


History  is  past  Politics  and  Politics  are  present  History. — Freeman 


CONSTITUTION  AND  ADMISSION  OF  IOWA 
INTO  THE  UNION 


By  JAMES  ALTON  JAMES,  Ph.  D.  (J.  H.  U.) 

Professor  of  History,  Northwestern  University 


BALTIMORE 

THE  JOHNS    HOPKINS   PRESS 

JULY,   1900 


Copyright,  1900,  by 
N.   MURRAY 


THE  FRIEDENWALD  COMPANY 
BALTIMORE,  MO.,  U.  S.  A. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I.     Introduction, 7 

II.     Government   Before    the    Terbitort  of  Iowa   was 

Established, 9 

III.  Events  Leading   to   the  Constitutional    Convention 

OF  1844,       13 

IV.  The  Constitution  of  1844, 17 

1.  What  was  to  be  the  Status  of  the  Negro  ? 

2.  The  Establishment  of  Banks  and  of  Schools. 

3.  The  Contest  Aroused  in  Congress. 

4.  The  Constitution  Submitted  to  the  People. 

5.  Resubmission  of  the  Constitution  to  the  People. 

V.     The  Convention  and  the  Constitution  of  1846,       .     .       33 

1.  The  Bank  Question. 

2.  Other  Features  of  the  Constitution. 

VI.     Iowa  Becomes  a  State, 37 

VII.     The  Calling   of   the  Constitutional    Convention   of 

1857, 39 

VIII.     The  Constitutional  Convbution  of  1857, 41 

1.  The  Bank  Problem. 

2.  Rights  of  the  Negroes. 

3.  Other  Provisions  of  the  Constitution. 

IX.     Amendments  of  the  Constitution,        51 


CONSTITUTION  AND  ADMISSION  OF  IOWA 
INTO  THE  UNION 


I. — Introduction/ 

Since  the  States  of  the  Middle  West  have  become  so 
prominent  in  the  decisions  on  national  issues,  it  is  interest- 
ing to  contemplate  their  coming  into  the  political  arena. 
By  such  a  study  we  may  comprehend  more  fully  the  sig- 
nificance of  fifty  years  of  our  nation's  growth  and  the  devel- 
opment of  new  principles.  Especially  is  the  study  of  the 
evolution  of  Statehood  opportune  while  we  are  permitted 
to  supplement  the  written  records,  at  times  misleading,  by 
the  testimony  of  those  who  were  actively  engaged  in  the 
contest  for  admission. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  study  may  contribute  somewhat 
to  the  more  orderly  presentation  of  material,  some  of  which 
is  difficult  of  access,  and  thus  aid  the  future  historian  at 
once  to  correct  some  of  the  statements  made  by  past  writers, 
and  give  a  more  complete  account  of  the  problems  sur- 
rounding the  coming  of  Iowa  into  the  Union. 

Iowa  was  the  subject  for  a  great  amount  of  legislation 

^  For  many  of  the  facts  of  this  study,  I  am  indebted  to  the  Hon. 
T.  S.  Parvin,  LL.  D.,  one  of  the  district  attorneys  of  the  Iowa 
Territory.  He  has  also  been  a  careful  observer  of  the  development 
of  the  State  since  it  was  admitted  into  the  Union. 

I  am  also  under  obligation  to  the  librarians  and  other  officials  of 
the  Masonic  Library  of  Cedar  Rapids,  of  the  State  Historical 
Society  of  Iowa  City,  and  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Des 
Moines  for  their  kindly  assistance. 

The  collecting  of  material  was  begun  while  I  occupied  the  chair 
of  History  in  Cornell  College.  Partial  results  were  set  forth  in  a 
Tolume  of  the  American  Historical  Association,  1897,  pp.  161-173, 
on  National  Politics  and  the  Admission  of  Iowa  into  the  Union. 


8  Constitution  and  Admission  [346 

before  the  time  of  its  application  to  become  a  State.  As  a 
part  of  the  vast  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  it 
was  claimed  in  turn  by  England  and  France,  was  ceded  to 
Spain  and  again  to  France  and  was  finally  purchased  in 
1803  by  the  United  States.  By  an  act  of  March  26,  1804, 
the  Louisiana  purchase  was  divided  into  two  territories. 
One  of  these,  the  territory  of  Orleans,  was  given  a  definite 
territorial  government.  The  other,  the  district  of  Louisi- 
ana, was  allowed  to  remain  practically  without  organization 
in  itself,  but  was  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  terri- 
tory of  Indiana.  The  people  of  the  district  were  dissatis- 
fied with  such  a  settlement  and  their  representatives,  assem- 
bled at  St.  Louis,  sent  a  vigorous  remonstrance  to  Congress 
against  the  "  dictates  of  a  foreign  government,"  the  "  viola- 
tion of  the  principles  of  liberty  and  equality  "  and  other  sup- 
posed abuses.  Their  petition  for  the  establishment  of  a 
separate  territory  was  effective,  and  in  March,  1805,  the 
Territory  of  Louisiana  was  created. 

In  1812,  this  territory  was  recognized  as  the  territory  of 
Missouri.  When  Missouri  became  a  State  in  1821,  there 
was  no  provision  made  for  the  government  of  the  territory 
to  the  north,  which  embraced  the  future  commonwealth 
of  Iowa.  This  condition  seems  to  have  obtained  until 
1834,  when  it  was  included  in  the  territory  of  Michigan. 
The  act  declared  that  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  temporary 
government,  and  that  the  inhabitants  therein  shall  be  en- 
titled to  the  same  privileges  and  immunities  and  be  subject 
to  the  same  laws,  rules  and  regulations  in  all  respects  as  the 
other  citizens  in  Michigan  Territory ."^     When  the  territory 

*  In  spite  of  this  decree,  there  seems  to  have  been  little  heed  paid 
to  the  securing  of  an  orderly  form  of  government  in  that  portion 
of  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  river.  In  the  discussion  of 
the  question  as  to  the  advisability  of  forming  a  separate  territorial 
government  for  Wisconsin,  March  28,  1836,  this  lack  of  govern- 
ment was  set  forth.  The  judge  appointed  under  the  act  of  1823, 
which  provided  an  additional  judge  for  Michigan  territory,  having 
jurisdiction  within  the  counties  of  Michilmackinac,  Brown  and 
Crawford,  declared  that  he  had   no  authority  outside  these  three 


347]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union,  9 

of  Wisconsin  was  established  by  an  act  of  July  4,  1836,  Iowa 
was  included  and  remained  under  the  jurisdiction  of  that 
territory  until  it  was  organized  as  a  separate  territory,  June 
12,  1838/ 


II. — Government  Before  the  Territory  of  Iowa 
WAS  Established 

The  lack  of  organized  government  for  Iowa  before  the 
year  1830  was  of  little  moment,  for  it  was  not  until  that 
year  that  the  first  white  settlement  was  made.  During  this 
year  a  company  of  miners  crossed  the  river  from  Illinois, 
and  settled  at  Dubuque  for  the  purpose  of  working  the 
lead  mines.  They  quickly  agreed  to  a  compact,  which  was 
to  constitute  a  government  suitable  to  themselves.  But 
the  land  of  which  they  took  possession  was  still  owned  by 
the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  and  troops  were  sent  by  the 
United  States  Government  to  protect  the  Indian  rights. 
By  1834,  the  Indian  title  had  been  extinguished  and  some 
two  thousand  persons  were  living  in  Dubuque,  still  under 
their  self-constituted  government,  the  United  States  hav- 
ing made  no  provision  for  the  settlement  of  the  territory. 
Settlements  were  also  made  at  Burlington,  Keokuk  and 
several  other  places.  Unlike  the  mining  camp  at  Dubuque, 
these  settlers  had  come,  bringing  their  families  with  them, 
for  the  purpose  of  founding  homes.  Settlers  first  went  to 
Burlington  in  1832,  and  they  organized  their  first  local 
government  in   1833.     The  land  of  which  they  had  taken 

counties.  In  the  case  of  a  murder  committed  in  the  county  of 
Dubuque,  "  the  murderers  were  discharged,  after  argument  before 
the  judge,  for  want  of  power  to  punish  them.  The  Committee  on 
Judiciary  had  recently  received  intelligence  that,  for  want  of  law 
to  punish  tKese  murderers,  one  of  them  had  been,  a  few  weeks 
since,  deliberately  shot  down  in  the  public  streets  of  the  town  of 
Dubuque."     Congressional  Debates,  Vol.   XII,  part  I,  p.  978. 

^  Reprinted  from  the  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  V, 
P-  235.  Quoted  in  Shambaugh,  Documentary  Material  Relating  to 
the  History  of  Iowa,  No.  5,  pp.  102-116. 


10  Constitution  and  Admission  [348 

possession  had  not  been  surveyed.  How,  then,  were  they 
to  hold  it?  The  improvements  made  for  their  actions  were 
clearly  contrary  to  a  decree  of  Congress."  Regardless  of 
this  fact,  settlements  multiplied,  each  with  its  local  organi- 
zation, usually  known  as  "  Claim  Association." 

The  principal  features  of  these  organizations  were  prac- 
tically the  same.'*  (i)  There  was  a  provision  as  to  the  amount 
of  land  in  a  claim.  In  some  cases  this  was  four  hundred 
and  eighty  acres;  in  others  it  was  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres.  There  was  sometimes  a  provision  as  to  what  part 
should  be  prairie  and  what  part  timber.  (2)  There  was  a 
provision  as  to  the  amount  of  improvement  required  to  hold 
the  claim  in  cases  where  the  claim  was  not  occupied.  (3) 
There  was  a  provision  as  to  occupancy.  Desertion  for  a 
specified  time  or  a  failure  to  make  the  required  improve- 
ments worked  forfeiture.  (4)  Claims  could  be  sold  to  any 
person  approved  by  the  organization,  and  the  buyer  had  all 
the  privileges  and  obligations  of  the  original  claimant.  A 
deed  was  given  and  recorded.  (5)  Provisions  were  made 
for  settling  disputes  between  claimants.  As  the  govern- 
ment surveys  had  not  been  made,  each  claimant  could  have 
his  amount  of  land,  but  he  could  not  tell  where  his  lines 
would  be.  Valuable  improvements  were  made  before  the 
surveys;  this  naturally  gave  rise  to  difficulties  and  disputes. 
Provisions  for  settling  these  were  of  different  sorts.  The 
members  of  the  organization  bound  themselves  to  abide 
by  the  decisions  of  courts  ftstablished  by  the  association;  or 
difficulties  were  settled  in  mass  meeting;  or  especial  ar- 
biters were  chosen  to  settle  special  cases;  or  a  neighboring 
organization  was  invited  to  assist  in  settling  a  difficulty. 
In  one  or  another  of  these  ways  nearly  all  cases  were  ad- 
justed in  an  orderly  way.     (6)  There  were  provisions  for 

*  By  act  of  1807,  trespassers  upon  United  States  territory  were 
subject  to  removal,  fine  and  imprisonment. 

"  For  the  constitution  of  an  association,  see  Macy,  Institutional 
Beginnings  in  a  Western  State;  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies 
in  Historical  and  Political  Science,  Vol.  II,  pp.  33-38. 


349]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union.  11 

securing  the  enforcement  of  all  decisions  and  for  protecting 
their  claims  against  outside  parties." "  When  the  land 
was  placed  on  the  market  by  Congressional  authority  the 
decrees  of  the  associations  were  completely  enforced.  No 
difficulty  was  experienced  on  the  part  of  the  original  claim- 
ants in  securing,  through  their  special  delegates,  at  a  nom- 
inal rate,  the  lands  which  they  had  taken.' 

In  addition  to  this  type  of  local  government,  the  territory 
of  Michigan  created  out  of  the  area  west  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  the  counties  of  Dubuque  and  Des  Moines,  each  of 
which  was  to  constitute  a  township.  Wisconsin,  too,  pro- 
vided for  the  creation  of  sixteen  counties  within  the  same 
area,  each  having  a  carefully  organized  system  of  town- 
ships. These  legislative  units  were  of  little  force  against 
the  earlier  organizations  even  during  the  first  years  after  a 
separate  territorial  government  was  formed. 

While  these  pioneers  were  content  with  their  own  local 
government,  they  appreciated  the  need  of  a  government 
which  would  be  adequate  for  the  administration  of  more 
general  aflfairs.  So  in  1837,  the  question  of  organizing  a 
territorial  government  was  taken  up  for  the  first  time  by 
a  convention  which  met  in  Burlington.  They  adopted  a 
memorial  to  Congress  in  which  they  set  forth  their  needs 
as  follows:  "From  June,  1833,  until  June,  1834,  a  period 
of  one  year,  there  was  not  even  a  shadow  of  government 
or  law  in  all  western  Wisconsin.  In  June,  1834,  Congress 
attached  her  to  the  then  existing  Territory  of  Michigan,  of 

"  Macy,  Institutional  Beginnings  in  a  Western  State;  Johns  Hop- 
kins University  Studies  in  Historical  and  Political  Science,  Vol.  H, 
pp.  II,  12. 

''  This  occupation  of  land  which  had  been  recorded  by  the  Asso- 
ciation was  declared  to  be  legal  by  the  territorial  legislature.  But 
this  decision  was  clearly  contrary  to  the  intent  of  the  act  of  1807. 
It  was  sanctioned,  however,  by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  territory  in  a  test  case  during  the  year  1840.  Iowa,  by  this 
virtual  annulment  of  a  United  States  statute,  showed  that  inde- 
pendence characteristic  of  the  commonwealth  in  the  later  contest 
by  which  it  became  a  State. 


12  Constitution  and  Admission  [350 

which  Territory  she  nominally  continued  a  part  until  1836, 
a  period  of  little  more  than  two  years.  During  the  whole 
of  this  time,  the  whole  country  west,  sufficient  of  itself  for 
a  respectable  State,  was  included  in  the  two  counties  of 
Dubuque  and  Des  Moines.  In  each  of  these  two  counties 
there  were  holden,  during  the  said  term  of  two  years,  two 
terms  of  a  county  court  (a  court  of  inferior  jurisdiction), 
as  the  only  source  of  judicial  relief  up  to  the  passage  of  the 
act  of  Congress  creating  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin.  That 
act  took  efifect  the  third  day  of  July,  1836,  and  the  first 
judicial  relief  under  that  act  was  at  the  April  term  follow- 
ing, 1837,  a  period  of  nine  months  after  its  passage;  subse- 
quent to  which  time  there  has  been  a  court  holden  in  one 
solitary  county  in  western  Wisconsin  only.  This,  your 
memorialists  are  aware,  has  been  recently  owing  to  the  un- 
fortunate indisposition  of  the  esteemed  and  meritorious 
Judge  of  our  district;  but  they  are  equally  aware  of  the  fact 
that  had  western  Wisconsin  existed  under  a  separate  organ- 
ization, we  should  have  found  relief  in  the  services  of  other 
members  of  the  judiciary,  who  are  at  present,  in  conseqence 
of  the  great  extent  of  our  Territory,  and  the  small  number 
of  judges  dispersed  at  too  great  a  distance  and  too  con- 
stantly engaged  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  their  own 
districts,  to  be  enabled  to  afford  relief  to  other  portions  of  the 
Territory.  Thus,  with  a  population  of  not  less  than  twenty- 
five  thousand  now,  and  of  near  half  that  number  at  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Territory  (of  Wisconsin),  it  will  appear 
that  we  have  existed  as  a  portion  of  an  organized  Terri- 
tory for  sixteen  months  with  but  one  term  of  court  only." ' 
Evidently  the  desired  effect  was  produced,  for  Congress,  by 
an  act  of  June  12,  1838,  constituted  the  "  Organic  Law," 
which  was  virtually  a  Constitution  for  the  Territory  of 
Iowa." 

'Quoted  in  Macy,  Institutional  Beginnings  in  a  Western  State; 
Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  in  Historical  and  Political 
Science,  Vol.  H,  pp.  9,  10. 

*  The  organic  act  is  given  in  Shambaugh,  Documentary  Material 


351]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union.  13 

III. — Events  Leading  to  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion OF   1844 

That  ambitious  characteristic  of  American  pioneers 
quickly  asserted  itself.  Some  of  her  prominent  men  spoke 
of  an  early  admission  into  the  Uniort  Her  governor  in 
1839'"  recommended  to  the  Legislative  Assembly  that  a  me- 
morial to  Congress  be  prepared  asking  that  body  to  pass 
an  enabling  act  at  their  next  session.  His  reasons  for  tak- 
ing this  step  were  warranted,  he  thought,  in  consideration 
of  the  rapidly  increasing  population  and  advancing  pros- 
perity of  the  territory  and  because  of  the  inherent  weakness 
of  the  government  at  that  time.  He  cited  the  example  of 
Ohio,  Indiana  and  Ilhnois,  whose  prosperity  was  much  en- 
hanced after  they  became  States.  The  question  was  then 
agitated  in  the  Legislative  Assembly.  A  minority  report 
of  the  committee  on  territorial  aflfairs  seconded  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  governor,  but  the  report  of  the  majority 
was  adopted."  This  majority  resolution  set  forth  the  inex- 
pediency of  such  a  move  at  that  time;  holding  that  a  State 
government  would  increase  the  burden  of  taxation  and 
that  the  people  needed  all  the  means  at  their  command  for 
the  making  of  homes.  It  was  further  asserted  that  Iowa, 
when  made  a  territory,  was  given  "  ample  liberty  and  free- 
dom in  local  self-government,"  a  privilege  not  granted  to 
territories  previous  to  that  time." 

A  message  of  Governor  Lucas  of  July  14,  1840,"  again 

Relating  to  the  History  of  Iowa,  No.  5,  pp.  102-116.  Reprinted 
from  the  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  V,  p.  135. 

"  This  act  must  be  viewed  by  us  as  the  Constitutional  Charter  of 
the  Territory;  it  prescribes  our  powers,  defines  our  duties,  directs 
our  actions,  and  points  out  our  rights  and  privileges."  From  the 
Message  of  Governor  Lucas,  Nov.  12,  1838. 

'"  Message  of  Governor  Lucas,  November  5,  1839. 

"  The  vote  stood  21  to  4. 

"  Iowa  City  Standard,  Feb.  19,  1842.  From  a  letter  of  Francis 
Springer,  a  member  of  the  Council. 

^'  Journal  of  House  of  Representatives,  Extra  Session,  1840. 


14  Constitution  and  Admission  [352 

suggested  that  the  Legislative  Assembly  should  provide  for 
the  taking  of  the  sense  of  the  people,  at  the  next  annual 
election,  relative  to  a  constitutional  convention.  In  accord 
with  his  wishes,  an  act  was  passed,  July  31,  1840,  calling  for 
a  vote  of  the  people  on  this  question.  In  August  of  that 
year,  the  proposition  for  a  convention  was  defeated  by  a 
large  majority." 

But  the  question  was  by  no  means  settled.  In  his  mes- 
sage of  the  following  year.  Governor  Chambers"  also  spoke 
of  the  legislation  which  would  be  necessary  to  again  secure 
the  dictum  of  the  people,  on  the  question  of  a  convention, 
as  being  of  paramount  importance.  He  doubted  not  but 
that  the  rapid  increase  of  the  population"  and  the  recent 
legislation  of  Congress  on  the  disposition  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  would  have  much  to  do 
in  changing  public  sentiment.  Again,  an  act  of  the  Legis- 
lative Assembly  called  for  a  vote  of  the  people  in  August  of 
the  following  year.  This  result  was  largely  produced 
through  the  vigorous  use  of  the  party  whip.  In  general, 
the  Whigs,  then  holding  the  offices  by  appointment  from 
Washington,  were  opposed.  The  Democrats,  with  a  prob- 
able majority  in  the  Territory,  hoped  to  obtain  the  spoils 
when  Iowa  should  become  a  State.  Various  arguments  in 
favor  of  the  convention  were  set  forth  by  the  Democratic 
press.  It  was  held  that  the  population  of  the  State  would 
be  rapidly  increased.  They  believed  large  numbers  would 
come  into  the  State  from  Illinois  and  Indiana,  hoping  thus 
to  escape  the  embarrassed  financial  condition  of  those 
states."     The  one  thing  which  the  people  of  Iowa  feared 

"  Vote  for  a  convention,  937;  against,  2907.  Iowa  City  Standard, 
Vol.  I,  Nov.  27,  1840. 

"  Message  of  Dec.  8,  1841. 

"  By  the  census  of  June  i,  1840,  there  were  43,000  inhabitants,  an 
increase  of  over  21,000  in  two  years.  Iowa  Capitol  Reporter,  Jan.  i, 
1842. 

"  As  a  safeguard  against  such  a  condition  ever  obtaining  in  Iowa, 
it  was  urged  that  the  Constitution  ought  to  be  so  framed  as  to 
prevent  the  creation  of  a  state  debt  in  any  form. 


353]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union,  15 

and  largely  determined  the  vote  against  the  convention, 
was  just  this  of  financial  burdens.  The  privilege  of 
electing  their  own  officers  instead  of  receiving  those  sent 
them  was  urged;  also  the  greater  influence  which  the  State 
w'ould  have  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  That  the  taxes 
would  be  slightly  augmented  was  admitted.  As  an  offset, 
it  was  asserted  that  they  would  obtain,  through  their  greater 
influence,  much  larger  appropriations  for  internal  improve- 
ments, then  "  few  and  far  between,  but  trifling  in  import- 
ance compared  with  those  which  are  annually  lavished  upon 
the  Atlantic  frontier  or  even  upon  the  lake  coast."  "  The 
then  prevalent  Western  sentiment  against  Eastern  donai- 
nance  is  deftly  used,  and  it  was  urged  that  the  Senators  and 
Representatives  from  Iowa  might  be  the  means  of  greatly 
aiding  in  preventing  "  Western  interests  from  being  longer 
neglected."  An  appeal  was  made  to  parents  on  behalf  of 
the  education  of  their  children,  for  no  aid  could  be  gotten 
from  the  lands  reserved  for  school  purposes  while  Iowa 
remained  a  territory.  Finally,  they  insist  that  if  they  do 
not  now  apply  for  admission  it  will  be  delayed  for  some 
time,  for  Wisconsin  will  be  admitted  along  with  Florida 
and  there  will  remain  no  slave  state  which  may  be  paired 
with  Iowa.  The  stock  arguments  brought  forward  against 
a  convention  were  that  there  would  certainly  be  a  great 
increase  of  taxation  in  order  to  maintain  a  state  govern- 
ment, and  that  it  was  merely  a  scheme  of  Democratic  office- 
seekers.  The  necessity  of  paying  for  their  own  administra- 
tion of  government,  by  the  levying  of  taxes,  again  fright- 
ened the  people  and  they  decided  against  the  convention,'" 

Another  message  of  Governor  Chambers"*  looking  to  the 
same  end  was  laid  on  the  table  by  the  Territorial  House  of 
Representatives.  Finally,  however,  an  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture passed  February   12,   1844,  providing  for  a  constitu- 

"  Iowa  Capitol  Reporter,  June  18,  1842. 

"  Vote  for  a  convention,  4129;  against,  6825.     Iowa  City  Standard, 
Vol.  II,  Sept.  10,  1842. 
*•  Message,  Dec.  4,  1843.  Journal  House  of  Representatives,  p.  10. 


16  Constitution  and  Admission  [354 

tional  convention,  was  sanctioned  by  a  majority  of  the 
qualified  voters  in  the  April  election."  The  arguments 
for  and  against  the  convention  were  practically  the  same  as 
those  already  given.  The  Whig  press  gave  its  version  as 
follows :  "  There  is  in  this  Territory  a  set  of  speculating 
politicians,  mere  soldiers  of  fortune,  whose  whole  souls  are 
wrapped  in  the  endeavor  to  rush  the  Territory  into  a  State 
organization  in  the  belief  that  their  precious  selves  will  get 
elected  to  the  offices  that  will  be  created.  The  people  have 
already  repudiated  them  and  their  offers  on  two  occasions, 
and  if  true  to  themselves,  they  will  do  it  a  third  time.  It  is 
no  light  matter  to  propose  to  the  people  of  this  Territory, 
poor  as  they  are,  and  even  now  almost  without  a  circulating 
medium,  that  they  shall  give  up  the  yearly  receipt  of  some 
sixty  thousand  dollars  in  hard  cash  and  tax  themselves  some 
forty  thousand  dollars  for  the  s.upport  of  a  State  govern- 
ment. The  difference  that  it  would  make  with  each  land- 
holding  elector,  and  upon  that  class  the  principal  burden  of 
this  change  would  fall,  could  not  be  less  than  ten  dollars 
per  annum  upon  an  average,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  it  would 
be  even  more."  '^  There  was  a  striking  democratic  tone  in 
the  meetings  which  were  held  to  select  delegates  to  the 
convention.  Resolutions  were  prepared  in  many  of  them. 
One  of  these  statements  declared  that  they  looked  upon  the 
common  phraseology  used  in  petitioning  legislative  bodies, 
such  as  "  we  humbly  ask  your  honorable  bodies  " ;  "  we  will 
as  in  duty  bound  ever  pray,"  as  relics  of  monarchy  and 
wholly  incompatible  with  the  rights  of  freemen  and  the 
spirit  of  our  noble  institutions  and  ought  to  be  dispensed 
with  in  future.  A  lack  of  confidence  in  the  men  of  the  so- 
called  professions  on  the  part  of  the  farmers  is  notably 
present.  "  We  wish,"  so  an  address  to  the  people  asserted,'" 
"  every  class  of  our  citizens  fairly  and  fully  represented  by 

^^  Majority  in  favor  of  State  government,  2913.     Hull,  Historical 
and  Comparative  Census  of  Iowa,  Introduction,  p.  ix. 
^  Iowa  City  Standard,  Feb.  29,  1844. 
^  Iowa  City  Standard,  June  6,  1844. 


355]  of  loiva  into  the  Union,.  17 

their  peers,  and  however  much  we  value  and  honor  the  vari- 
ous professions  of  our  country,  still  we  believe  they  cannot, 
from  the  very  nature  of  things  by  any  possibility,  enter  into 
the  feelings  and  understand  the  wants  of  a  working  commu- 
nity and  not  being  their  peers,  cannot  fairly  represent  them; 
and,  aside  from  this,  there  is  such  a  disparity  between  the 
prices  generally  charged  by  professional  men  for  their 
services  and  the  prices  we  are  allowed  for  hard  labor  that  we 
have  but  little  reason  to  hope  for  a  fair,  equal  and  eco- 
nomical government  from  their  hands."  "  Party  lines  based 
on  national  party  principles  were  closely  drawn  in  the  selec- 
tion of  delegates  to  the  convention." 

The  charges  and  counter-charges  made  in  the  conduct  of 
the  campaign  were  not  materially  different  from  those 
heard  to-day." 

IV. — The  Constitution  of   1844 

The  convention  which  was  to  frame  a  constitution  met  at 
Iowa  City,  October  7,  1844.  Of  the  seventy-three  mem- 
bers constituting  that  body,  fifty-two  were  Democrats.     The 

'*  Forty-six  of  the  seventy-three  members  in  the  convention  were 
farmers. 

"  We  contend  that  the  Whig  party  has  kept  the  faith  handed 
down  from  the  Whigs  of  the  Revolution  and  the  Framers  of  the 
Constitution.  We  contend  that  a  constitution  for  the  State  of 
Iowa  formed  under  the  auspices  of  the  Whigs  would,  with  the 
greatest  degree  of  certainty,  secure  to  her  all  the  advantages  of 
good  government  and  wholesome  laws.  Iowa  City  Standard,  July 
18.  1844. 

^The  defeated  party  declared:  "We  have  just  passed  through  a 
most  important  and  exciting  canvass  in  this  country,  where 
Locofocoism  used  every  means  that  corruption  could  suggest  or 
ingenuity  devise  for  the  purpose  of  re-establishing  its  departing 
ascendency.  Lies  were  spoken  and  printed,  money  was  subscribed 
and  spent,  midnight  expeditions  were  got  up,  voters  were  imported, 
imbeciles  were  rushed  to  the  polls,  some  were  made  drunk,  some 
were  overawed;  in  a  word,  nothing  was  left  undone  by  the  Loco- 
focos  to  carry  the  country.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Whigs  made 
just  their  usual  exertion,  nothing  more."  Iowa  City  Standard, 
Aug.  8,  1844. 


18  Constitution  and  Admission  [356 

members  had  come  to  Iowa  from  fourteen  different  States. 
A  majority  of  the  delegates  were  from  Northern  States." 

A  heated  discussion  was  projected  at  the  outset  upon  the 
desirabiHty  of  opening  the  convention  each  day  with 
prayer.^     The  question  was  finally  indefinitely  postponed. 

That  desire  of  keeping  constituents  informed  of  the  do- 
ings of  their  representatives  had  not  taken  possession  of 
the  American  mind  of  that  period.  A  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers from  the  beginning  were  opposed  to  the  additional  ex- 
pense of  the  convention  which  would  ensue  were  members 
to  be  allowed  to  subscribe  for  even  ten  copies  of  the  papers 
published  in  the  city  where  they  were  in  session.  Notwith- 
standing the  urgent  appeal  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  mem- 
bers that  it  was  poor  economy  tO'  deny  the  people  informa- 
tion upon  a  subject  of  such  special  importance  and  one  upon 
which  they  would  be  called  upon  to  express  their  opinions 
in  the  near  future,  the  cry  of  economy  prevailed. 

I.  WHAT  WAS  TO  BE  THE  STATUS  OF  THE  NEGRO? 

Iowa,  as  early  as  the  year  1840,  had  been  given  its  posi- 
tion relative  to  one  phase  of  the  slavery  question.  At  that 
time  her  Chief  Justice,  Charles  Mason,  in  delivering  the  de- 
cision of  the  Court,"^  took  the  advanced  ground  that  Iowa 
was  free  soil,  and  that  when  a  slave,  with  the  consent  of  his 

"Pennsylvania,  13;  Virginia,  11;  New  York,  9;  Kentucky,  8; 
Ohio,  8;  North  Carolina,  6;  and  the  remainder  from  Massachusetts, 
Indiana,  Tennessee,  Maine,  Illinois,  New  Jersey  and  Scotland. 

^  It  was  declared  "  It  would  not  be  economical,  for  the  conven- 
tion sat  at  an  expense  of  two  hundred  to  three  hundred  dollars  per 
day,  and  time  was  money.  To  pass  a  resolution  to  have  prayers 
was  compelling  men  to  listen  to  what  they  were  opposed  to  and 
violated  one  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  men."  Public  prayer  was 
too  ostentatious.  If  the  convention  had  a  right  to  pass  such  a 
resolution,  it  had  the  right  to  establish  a  religion.  It  had  no  right 
to  bring  members  on  their  knees  every  morning.  Absent  members 
might  be  brought  in  and  compelled  to  hear  what  they  were  opposed 
to.  This  was  contrary  to  the  inalienable  rights  of  man.  Iowa  City 
Standard,  Oct.  10,  1844. 

"  The  Territorial  Supreme  Court  consisted  of  three  justices. 


357]  of  loiva  into  the  Union..  19 

owner,   entered   this  territory,  from   that  moment  he  was 
free.^° 

Like  the  rest  of  the  Northern  States,  there  was  the  de- 
sire to  prohibit  slavery  by  means  of  a  constitutional  pro- 
vision. But  the  framers  of  this  constitution  were  opposed 
to  the  giving  of  free  negroes  those  civil,  social,  and  educa- 
tional privileges  enjoyed  by  white  men.  The  report  of  a 
special  committee,  upon  a  petition  from  a  considerable 
body  of  citizens,  sets  forth  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the 
period.  This  report  admitted  the  truth  of  the  expression, 
that  "  all  men  are  created  equal,"  as  an  abstract  proposition, 
but  holds  that  it  becomes  modified  when  man  is  considered 
as  a  part  of  an  artificial  state  in  which  government  places 
him.  It  asserts  that  the  philanthropist  should  commis- 
serate  the  fate  also  of  women  and  children  who,  in  like  man- 
ner, are  deprived  of  certain  rights.  Then  follows  what  was 
considered  conclusive  reasoning  on  the  proposition  that  that 
government  is  not  unjust  which  deprives  the  "  citizen  of 
color  "  of  some  privileges.  It  was  held  that  the  whole  sub- 
ject should  be  treated  as  a  question  of  policy  or  contract 
where  self-interest  is  just  as  properly  consulted  as  in  the 
promotion  of  a  commercial  treaty  or  a  private  contract. 
"  'Tis  the  white  population,"-  the  report  continues,  "  who 
are  about  to  form  a  government  for  themselves,  no  negro 
is  represented  in  this  convention  and  no  one  proposes  to 
become  a  member  of  the  compact.  'Tis  the  white  popula- 
tion of  this  territory  who  petition  for  the  admission  of  the 
negro.     They  n-ecessarily  believe  that  the  introduction  of 

'"  Morris,  Iowa  Reports,  1848.  The  report  is  as  follows :  "  In  the 
matter  of  Ralph,  a  colored  man,  on  habeas  corpus.  Where  A., 
formerly  a  slave,  goes,  with  the  consent  of  his  master,  to  become 
a  permanent  resident  of  a  Free  State,  he  cannot  be  regarded  as  a 
fugitive  slave.  The  act  of  1820,  for  the  admission  of  Missouri  into 
the  Union,  which  prohibits  slavery  north  of  36°  30',  was  not  in- 
tended merely  as  a  naked  declaration,  requiring  legislative  action 
in  the  states  to  carry  it  into  effect,  but  must  be  regarded  as  an 
entire  and  final  prohibition.  The  master,  who  subsequently  to  this 
act,  permits  his  slave  to  become  a  resident  here,  cannot  afterwards 
exercise  any  acts  of  ownership  over  him  within  this  territory." 


30  Constitution  and  Admission  [358 

such  a  population  as  citizens  would  not  interfere  with  the 
enjoyments  of  the  white  citizens.  .  .  ,  The  negro,  not  be- 
ing a  party  to  the  government,  has  no  right  to  partake  of 
its  privileges."  They  feared,  a  common  argument  of  the 
time,"  if  concessions  were  made  that  the  black  population 
of  other  states  would  enter  Iowa.  That  there  was  little 
basis  for  such  an  argument"  was  of  small  moment,  but  it 
was  convincing.  Then  follows  an  enumeration  of  abuses 
which  it  was  thought  would  be  introduced;  the  ballot-box 
would  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  negroes  and  a  train  of  evils 
ensue  beyond  calculation;  there  would  be  less  security  to 
persons  and  private  property;  discord  and  violence  would 
ensue  if  the  two  races  were  put  on  equal  terms;  and,  finally, 
government  itself  would  become  anarchical  or  despotic. 
This  report  was  laid  on  the  table,  and  notwithstanding  the 
various  petitions  received,  there  was  no  attempt  to  revive 
the  question  either  in  this  convention  or  that  of  1846. 

2.    THE    ESTABLISHMENT    OF    BANKS    AND    OF    SCHOOLS 

The  refusal  of  President  Jackson  to  sign  the  bill  which 
allowed  the  re-charter  of  the  United  States  Bank  had  its 

•^Thorpe,  Constitutional  History  of  the  American  People,  Vol. 
II,  pp.  250,  251. 

**  "  Since  1792,  suffrage  in  New  Hampshire  had  been  unrestricted. 
Connecticut,  less  liberal,  had  restricted  the  right  to  vote  to  white 
persons.  In  1800,  the  free  colored  population  of  New  Hampshire 
was  eight  hundred  and  eighteen;  ten  years  later  it  had  increased  to 
nine  hundred  and  seventy,  or  nineteen  per  cent.  In  1800,  the  free 
colored  population  of  Connecticut  was  five  thousand  three  hundred 
and  thirty,  which  ten  years  later  had  increased  twenty-one  per  cent. 
...  In  1830,  the  free  colored  population  of  New  Hampshire  was 
six  hundred  and  four,  or  thirty-three  per  cent  less  than  ten  years 
previously;  while  in  Connecticut  at  this  time  it  had  increased  three 
per  cent.  In  1840,  the  free  colored  population  of  New  Hampshire 
showed  a  loss  of  over  ten  per  cent;  while  in  Connecticut  it  had 
increased,  though  only  one  per  cent.  Thus  during  a  period  of 
forty  years  the  free  colored  population  of  New  Hampshire  fell  from 
eight  hundred  and  eighteen  to  five  hundred  and  thirty-seven,  a  loss 
of  thirty-three  per  cent;  while  in  Connecticut  it  increased  from 
five  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty  to  eight  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  five,  or  about  fifty  per  cent."  Thorpe,  Constitutional  His- 
tory of  the  American  People,  Vol.  II,  pp.  251,  252. 


359]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union,  21 

eflfect  as  far  west  as  the,  then,  really  unknown  district  of 
Iowa.  Almost  two  years  before  Iowa  was  given  a  terri- 
torial government,  the  Wisconsin  Legislature  granted  a 
charter  for  the  formation  of  a  corporation  bearing  the  name 
of  the  Miner's  Bank  of  Dubuque."  This  charter  was  to 
continue  in  force  until  May  i,  1857.  Business  might  be 
begun  when  there  should  be  forty  thousand  dollars  in 
stock  paid  in.  No  bills  of  a  less  denomination  than  five 
dollars  were  to  be  issued  during  the  first  four  years  of  its 
existence.  At  the  end  of  this  period,  the  Legislature  might 
prohibit  the  issue  of  bills  for  a  less  denomination  than  ten 
dollars,  and  at  the  end  of  ten  years,  prohibit  those  under 
the  denomination  of  twenty  dollars.  In  common  with  other 
banks  throughout  the  country,  the  Miner's  Bank  was 
greatly  crippled  by  the  issue  of  the  Special  Circular  by 
President  Jackson.  It  was  compelled,  too,  March  i,  1841, 
to  suspend  specie  payments."  This  necessity  brought  the 
Bank  into  general  disfavor  and  a  bill  introduced  into  the 
fifth  Legislative  Assembly  provided  for  the  repeal  of  its 
charter.  Failing  of  a  majority  for  the  time,  the  contest  on 
the  same  measure  was  aroused  in  the  two  succeeding  as- 
semblies.    Finally,  May  14,  1845,  the  bill  was  passed."    The 

"  Charter  granted,  Nov.  30,  1836.  For  the  facts  on  this  subject, 
I  am  chiefly  indebted  to  H.  W.  Lathrop,  of  Iowa  City.  Mr.  Lath- 
rop  has  given  the  account  in  the  Iowa  Historical  Record  for  April, 

1897,  PP-  54-65. 

"  "  During  the  pendency  of  the  bill  in  the  Fifth  Legislative  As- 
sembly, a  report  was  made  by  a  committee  to  whom  it  was  referred, 
containing  the  statement  that  the  Territory  was  owing  the  bank 
$5876.25,  then  long  overdue;  and  that  this,  with  the  specie  on  hand, 
was  enough  to  redeem  all  its  outstanding  notes  not  in  the  hands  of 
the  stockholders."  Iowa  Historical  Record,  April,  1897,  p.  57. 
This  money  had  been  used  in  the  construction  of  the  Capitol  build- 
ing at  Iowa  City. 

"  This  whole  contest  with  the  bank  seems  to  have  been  "  a  war- 
fare between  weakness  and  poverty  on  one  side,  and  impecuniosity, 
bank  prejudice  and  legal  power  on  the  other." 

"  While  the  Territory,  represented  by  the  Legislative  Assembly, 
was  trying  to  force  the  Bank  to  pay  specie  on  its  notes,  so  de- 
pressed was  public  credit,  that  territorial  warrants  were  hawked 
about  the  streets  at  a  fifty  per  cent  discount,   because  there  was 


22  Constitution  and  Admission  [360 

friends  of  the  bank  were  compelled  to  acquiesce  after  a 
decision  was  rendered  against  them  by  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  Convention  of  1844  partook  of  the  spirit  of  opposi- 
tion to  banks  then  strong  in  the  territory  and  becoming 
stronger  throughout  the  Union.  No  question  was  dis- 
cussed, by  them,  at  greater  length.  Finally  they  agreed 
by  taking  a  position  in  advance  of  that  which  had  been 
taken  in  the  other  states.  They  provided  that  no  banking 
institution  of  whatever  nature  should  be  created  by  the 
Legislature  unless  the  charter  should  first  be  submitted  to 
a  vote  of  the  people  at  a  general  election  for  State  officers, 
and  receive  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  qualified  electors.'' 
The  State  was  not  to  become  a  stockholder  in  any  such 
institution. 

Feeling  against  the  establishment  of  corporations  was 
also  strong."  The  clause  at  last  agreed  upon,  provided  that 
no  act  of  incorporation  should  continue  in  force  for  more 
than  twenty  years,  unless  it  had  been  created  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  on  public  improvement;  that  the  property 
of  the  individual  members  should  be  liable  for  the  debts  of 
the  incorporation;  that  the  legislature  might  repeal  acts  of 
incorporation  granted  by  it  whenever  it  so  chose,  and  that 
the  property  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  State  should  not, 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  be  taken  by  any  such 
company.  Counties,  towns,  and  other  public  corporations 
were  not  to  be  subject  to  these  limitations. 

Schools  were  early  established  in  the  territory  of  Iowa.'' 
To  the  urgent  appeals  of  her  territorial  government '°  and 

no  specie  or  any  other  money  on  hand  to  pay  them."  Iowa  His- 
torical Record,  April,  1897,  p.  58. 

'*  Journal  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  1844,  p.  200. 

*^  "  These  soulless  monsters  have  tyrannized  enough;  and  we  re- 
joice that  Iowa  in  the  outset  has  bound  the  hydra,  hand  and  foot." 
Iowa  Capitol  Reporter,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  43,  No.  9.  1844. 

''  The  first  school  was  established  in  Iowa  in  1830.  Parvin, 
"  Who  Made  Iowa,"  pp.  19,  20. 

^^  In  his  first  message  to  the  territorial  Legislature,  Governor 
'Lucas,  the  first  governor  of  the  territory,  said:  "The  subject  of 
providing  by  law  for  the  organization  of  townships  I  consider  to 


3G1]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union,  23 

the  co-operation  of  her  territorial  Legislatures  is  largely  due 
the  foundation  for  the  present  excellent  common  school 
system.  It  is  not  surprising  then  that  the  Iowa  Constitu- 
tional Conventions  paid  much  attention  to  the  cause  of 
education.  The  Convention  of  1844  set  forth  its  views  in 
one  of  the  most  striking  clause  of  the  Constitution.  There 
was  to  be  a  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  appointed 
by  the  Legislature  for  a  term  of  three  years.  Improvement 
along  "  intellectual,  scientific,  moral,  and  agricultural  lines, 
was  to  be  promoted  through  the  expenditure  of  the  interest 
derived  from  a  perpetual  fund.  The  sources  for  this  fund 
were  to  be  from  the  sale  of  all  lands  granted  to  the  State  by 
the  United  States  for  the  support  of  schools;  the  five  hun- 
dred thousand  acres  of  public  lands  to  be  received  under 
the  act  of  1841 ;  "  all  estates  of  deceased  persons  without 
will  or  without  heirs  " ;  and  the  rents  of  all  unsold  lands 
within  the  State.  It  provided  also  that  the  Legislature 
should  establish  a  system  of  common  schools  by  which  they 
should  be  maintained  for  at  least  three  months  during  the 
year  in  each  school  district.  There  was  to  be  established  at 
the  earliest  time  possible,  a  library  in  each  township,  which 
should  derive  support  from  money  paid  as  exemption  from 
military  duty  and  the  proceeds  from  fines  in  the  several 
counties.  The  means  provided  for  University  education, 
through  the  sale  or  rent  of  lands  granted  by  the  United 
States  Government,  was  to  be  guarded  as  a  permanent  fund 
for  the  University  purposes. 

After  a  session  of  twenty-five  days,  the  Constitution  was 
completed  and  was  submitted  to  Congress  by  the  territorial 
delegate.** 

be  of  the  first  importance  and  almost  indispensable  to  the  local 
organization  of  the  government.  Without  proper  township  regu- 
lations it  will  be  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  establish 
a  regular  school  system.  There  is  no  subject  to  which  I  wish  to 
call  your  attention  more  emphatically  than  to  the  subject  of  estab- 
lishing at  the  commencement  of  our  political  existence  a  well- 
digested  system  of  common  schools."  Quoted  in  Parvin,  Who 
Made  Iowa,  p.  26. 
"The  boundary  proposed  was  the  following:   Beginning  in  the 


24  Constitution  and  Admission  [362> 

3.    THE    CONTEST    AROUSED    IN    CONGRESS 

A  significant  contest  was  aroused  when  the  question  of 
the  admission  of  Iowa  was  presented  before  Congress. 
True,  it  was  but  the  "  old  struggle  for  legislative  suprem- 
acy "  between  freedom  and  slavery,  but  it  was  now  at  close 
quarters.  Florida  had  submitted  her  Constitution  to  Con- 
gress in  1839,  but  because  of  internal  dissensions  in  the 
Territory  she  was  not  admitted  to  Statehood.  Texas,  with 
a  territory  out  of  which  might  be  carved  "  four  or  five 
states,"  had  just  come  under  national  jurisdiction.  Mem- 
bers were  fearful  for  the  equipoise  of  the  numbers  in  the 
Senate  and  the  committee  was  thus  led  to  recommend  for 
consideration  in  the  House  that  "  aged,  waiting,  slave-hold- 
ing Florida  "  should  be  "  yoked  "  in  one  bill  with  "  young, 
energetic,  free  Iowa." 

The  Committee  on  the  Territories  accepted  the  constitu- 
tions submitted  and  reported  a  bill  for  the  simultaneous  ad- 
mission of  the  two  States.  The  conflict  was  precipitated  at 
once  by  the  introduction  of  an  amendment "  which  provided 
that  Iowa  should  have  the  following  boundary  in  place  of 
that  given  by  the  convention  and  believed  to  be  the  most 
natural :  "^     "  Beginning  in  the  middle  of  the   St.   Peter's 


middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  Mississippi  River  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  Des  Moines  River;  thence  up  the  said  river  Des 
Moines  in  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  thereof,  to  a  point  where 
it  is  intersected  by  the  old  Indian  boundary  line,  or  line  run  by 
John  C.  Sullivan  in  the  year  1816;  thence  westwardly  along  said 
line  to  the  "old  northwest  corner  of  Missouri";  thence  due  west 
to  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  Missouri  River;  thence 
up  in  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  river  last  mentioned 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Sioux  or  Calumet  River;  thence  in  a  direct 
line  to  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  St.  Peter's  River, 
where  the  Watonwan  River  (according  to  Nicollet's  map)  enters 
the  same;  thence  down  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  said 
river  to  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  Mississippi  River; 
thence  down  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  said  river  to  the 
place  of  beginning. 

"  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  14,  p.  269.  This  amendment,  offered 
by  an  Ohio  Representative,  was  an  amendment  to  an  amendment 
"  defining  the  boundaries  of  Iowa  and  Missouri." 

"  Capitol  City  Reporter,  Nov.  9,  1844. 


363]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union.  25- 

River,  at  the  junction  of  the  Watonwan  or  Blue  Earth 
River;  with  the  said  river  St.  Peter's  running  thence  due 
east  to  the  boundary  Hne  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  in 
the  middle  of  the  Mississippi  River;  thence  down  the  middle 
of  the  last-named  river  with  the  boundary  line  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Wisconsin  and  State  of  Illinois  to  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  State  of  Missouri  in  said  river  Mississippi; 
thence  westwardly  with  the  boundary  line  of  said  State  of 
Missouri  to  a  point  due  south  from  the  place  of  beginning; 
thence  due  north  to  the  place  of  beginning  in  said  St.  Peter's 
River."  "" 

The  question  did  not  call  out  a  lengthy  debate  either  in 
the  House  or  in  the  Senate.  It  was  heated  and  of  great 
interest  in  the  light  of  later  and  even  present  conditions.. 
Most  significant  was  the  speech  of  Mr.  Vinton  "  of  Ohio, 
in  that  he  demonstrated  in  an  able  manner  the  real  position 
which  the  West  was  to  occupy  in  bringing  about  the  best 
interests  of  the  nation.  He  favored  the  reduced  limits  for 
the  new  State,  which  even  then  would  have  an  area  greater 
than  that  of  Ohio  by  one-third."  He  thought  that  policy 
"  unwise  and  mistaken  "  which  had  hitherto  prevailed  in 
Congress,  of  forming  Western  States  of  such  large  propor- 
tions that  the  great  Mississippi  Valley  would  be  deprived 
irrevocably  of  its  share  in  legislation. 

The  ordinance  of  1787  was  characterized  as  an  act  of 
"  flagrant  injustice,"  in  that  it  was  framed  with  the  distinct 
view  of  making  and  holding  an  Atlantic  ascendency.* 
Instead  of  the  twelve  or  more  States  which  would  have  been 
formed  out  of  this  Northwest  Territory  by  the  act  of  the 
Virginia  Legislature  of  October,  1783,"  not  more  than  five 

**  This  boundary  would  have  given  Iowa  about  two-thirds  of  its 
present  area. 

"  Vinton  had  represented  Ohio  in  the  House  twenty-one  years 
before,  and  together  with  his  colleague.  Governor  Vance,  was  the 
only  Representative  who  had  witnessed  the  growth  of  legislation 
for  the  West. 

"  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  14,  Appendix,  p.  330. 

*■  Ibid.,  p.  331. 

"  Based  on  a  Congressional  resolution  of  October  10,  1780,  "  That 


36  Constitution  and  Admission  [364 

were  to  be  allowed.  Justice,  then,  would  require  that  there 
should  be  territory  enough  remaining  west  and  north  of 
Iowa  to  make  in  the  future  two  more  States;  that  a  series 
of  small  States  should  be  made  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River  as  an  offset  to  the  wrong  policy  which  had  prevailed 
relative  to  those  east  of  that  river.  It  was  further  urged 
that  this  ought  to  be  the  action  taken,  for  the  bill  itself 
provided  that,  "  When  either  east  or  west  Florida  shall 
contain  a  population  of  35,000  inhabitants,  it  may  be  divided 
into  two  States." 

He  also  argued,  very  ably,  that  the  power  of  controlling 
the  Government  in  all  departments  might  be  more  safely 
intrusted  to  the  West  than  in  any  other  hands.  His  state- 
ment was  a  novel  one  at  the  time,  but  one  whose  truth  has 
been  set  forth  before  the  first  half  century  has  gone.  The 
main  points  in  the  argument  were:  That  the  geographical 
position  and  commercial  dependence  of  the  West  were  such 
as  to  unite  it  indissolubly  to  the  East  and  the  South;  that 
the  harbors  of  these  sections — New  York,  Philadelphia,  and 
New  Orleans — are  also  Western  harbors;  that  the  West 
would  become  an  impartial  umpire  on  conflicting  claims; 
or  the  grain-growing  States,  slaveholding  and  non-slave- 
holding,  occupy  an  intermediate  position  between  their  ex- 
clusive interests,  because  interested  in  the  prosperity  of 
both,  a  position  between  the  two  distinct  social  systems 
based  on  free  and  slave  labor;  between  Massachusetts, 
where  labor  had  many  fields  of  employment  and  capital 
many  modes  of  investment,  and  South  Carolina,  where  they 
were  devoted  to  one  pursuit.  Finally,  he  argues,  with  force 
and  suggestiveness,  that  the  great  conservative  power  grow- 
ing in  the  West  would,  if  properly  used,  counteract  the 
active  centrifugal  elements  and  in  a  few  short  years  hush 
into  submission  elements  of  disunion.     The  people  of  that 


each  State  which  shall  be  so  formed  shall  contain  a  suitable  extent 
of  territory,  no  less  than  one  hundred  nor  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  square,  or  as  near  thereto  as  circumstances  will 
admit." 


365]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union..  27 

great  valley  will  forever  be  conservative,  he  says,  whoever 
may  be  otherwise,  not  because  of  their  superior  patriotism, 
virtue,  and  love  of  country,  but  simply  because  their  posi- 
tion forces  them  to  be  so;  they  must  be  conservative  in  spite 
of  themselves.  "  Disunion  is  ruin  to  them.  They  have  no 
other  alternative  but  to  resist  it  whenever  or  wherever  at- 
tempted. .  .  .  That  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina 
might,  for  aught  I  know,  find  a  dividing  line  that  would  be 
mutually  satisfactory  to  them,  but,  sir,  they  can  find  no 
such  line  to  which  the  Western  country  can  assent.  .  .  . 
Lay  down  the  map  of  the  country  before  you;  look,  sir,  at 
the  wonderful  network  uniting  the  West  with  the  North 
and  the  South  and  then  let  any  Northern  or  Southern  man 
tell  me  where  he  would  begin  the  work  of  its  destruction." 

Congressman  Belser,  of  Alabama,  in  the  most  notable 
speech  in  favor  of  the  measure,  sets  forth  the  Southern 
views  of  the  period.  He  asserted  that  equality  of  repre- 
sentation in  the  Senate  and  representation  in  the  House 
according  to  population  was  a  ''  part  of  our  social  compact, 
the  offspring  of  amity  and  concession;"  that  the  idea  of 
balance  of  power  "  had  not  made  as  profound  an  impres- 
sion "  in  the  South  as  was  believed. 

His  speech  was  chiefly  concerned  with  the  admission  of 
Florida  and  the  consideration  especially  of  the  first  and 
fourth  objections  made  to  its  becoming  a  State.  These 
points  were:  (i)  "That  according  to  the  last  census  she 
had  not  the  requisite  amount  of  population  to  entitle  her 
to  admission ;  (3)  that  Congress  has  the  discretionary  power 
to  admit  or  not  admit  her  as  a  new  State,  and  that  the  con- 
stitution presented  by  her  recognizes  slavery  in  a  country 
not  included  in  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution." 
Most  attention  was  given  the  third,  for  the  Florida  consti- 
tution contained  two  clauses  which  were  deemed  a  "  palpa- 
ble infraction  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 
These  clauses  were:  (i)  "  The  General  Assembly  shall  have 
no  power  to  pass  laws  for  the  emancipation  of  slaves; 
(2)  the  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  pass  laws  to 


28  Constitution  and  Admission  [366 

prevent  free  negroes,  mulattoes,  and  other  persons  of  color 
from  emigrating  to  this  State  or  from  being  on  board  of 
any  vessel  in  any  of  the  ports  of  Florida." 

In  the  course  of  his  debate  he  bids  in  a  unique  manner 
for  Western  influence  by  setting  up  that  plea  which  after 
fifty  years,  contrary  to  his  expectations,  remains  one  of  the 
chief  of  political  slogans.  "  The  Democratic  party,"  he 
said,  "  unawed  by  the  influence  of  the  great,  the  rich,  or 
the  noble,  has  vindicated  the  rights  of  the  people,  sided 
with  liberty  against  power. . . ."  He  said  the  period  of  jeal- 
ousy between  North  and  South  had  gone  by  and  hereafter 
it  will  be  with  the  monopolist  and  the  agriculturist — be- 
tween power  and  privilege.  "  The  center  of  this  republic," 
he  says  further,  "  is  destined  to  be  in  that  vast  region  which 
is  watered  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  and  the 
organization  of  new  political  societies  will  accelerate  the 
end."  " 

The  bill  with  boundary  amendment  was  passed  by  a  large 
majority  in  the  House  and  was  sent  to  the  Senate.  Here 
the  debate  centered  on  the  propriety  of  admitting  the  two 
States  in  one  measure. 

Rufus  Choate  represented  the  views  of  the  Senate  in  his 
statement  that  "  he  could  most  cheerfully  and  heartily  give 
the  hand  of  welcome  to  Iowa,  but  he  could  not — he  would 
not  say  constitutionally,  but  he  would  say  conscientiously — 
give  his  hand  to  Florida."  The  bill  passed  the  Senate,  in 
the  form  given  it  by  the  House,  March  3,  1845. 

4.    THE    CONSTITUTION    SUBMITTED    TO    THE    PEOPLE 

The  people  of  Iowa  had  not  voted  on  the  Constitution 
prior  to  its  submission  to  Congress.  A  period  of  some 
three  weeks  intervened  between  its  acceptance  in  Congress 
and  the  expression  by  the  voters  of  their  opinion  on  this 
document. 

Generally  speaking,  the  Whigs  were  opposed  to  State- 

*•  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  14,  p.  379. 


367]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union.  29 

hood.  They  were  in  the  minority,  held  none  of  the  offices, 
nor  could  they  look  forward  to  changed  conditions  in  the 
near  future.  Objections  were  made  to  certain  provisions 
of  the  Constitution,  by  the  press  of  the  territory,  regard- 
less of  party  lines.  They  objected  to  the  selection  of  judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  by  the  General  Assembly;  and  of 
Secretary  of  State,  State  Treasurer,  and  other  State  officers 
by  the  people  instead  of  being  appointed  by  the  Executive. 
The  severe  restrictions  on  banks  and  corporations  were 
especially  obnoxious  and  were  to  be  fought  over  again  in 
the  Constitutional  Conventions  of  1846  and  1857.  Other 
objections  were  made  to  the  low  salaries  provided  for, 
which  would  secure  men  of  inferior  qualifications  alone ;  ** 
and  to  biennial  sessions  of  the  legislature  instead  of  a  short 
session  each  year. 

Democratic  office-holders  and  politicians  favored  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  Constitution  even  with  the  Congressional 
modifications.  Some  of  the  arguments  of  their  Congres- 
sional delegate,  given  in  a  letter  to  the  people  of  the  terri- 
tory and  favoring  adoption  were:"  "  Notwithstanding  the 
lessened  territory,  the  new  State  would  have  an  area  of 
44,300  square  miles  ";  that  a  large  part  of  the  land  of  which 
they  had  been  deprived,  known  as  the  "  Hills  of  the  Prairie," 
was  barren  and  sterile,  and  that  the  boundary  was  the  one 
which  United  States  Geologist  Nicollet  had  recommended. 
He  then  shows  that  the  "  true  interest  of  the  West  is  to 
have  States  of  reasonable  dimension,  in  order  to  get  due 
representation  in  the  Senate."  Whatever  may  be  the  deci- 
sion of  the  people  with  regard  to  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution, he  concluded:  "We  will  not  be  able  hereafter, 
under  any  circumstances,  to  obtain  one  square  mile  more 
for  our  new  State  than  is  contained  within  the  boundaries 
adopted  by  the  act  of  Congress  already  passed." 

*  The  following  annual  salaries  were  agreed  upon:  Governor, 
$800;  Secretary  of  State,  $500;  Treasurer,  $3000;  Auditor,  $500; 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  $800. 

"  Letter  of  A.  C.  Dodge,  March  4,  1845.  In  Iowa  Capitol  Re- 
porter, March  22,  1845. 


30  Constitution  and  Admission  [368 

This  warning  had  little  effect  on  the  people.  The  reduced 
area  added  strength  to  the  Whig  opposition.  A  few  Demo- 
crats sacrificed  party  on  this  one  issue,  and  despite  the  im- 
precations of  their  former  political  friends,  "  stumped " 
the  Territory  against  the  Constitution.  Theirs  was  a  cam- 
paign of  real  education.  "  They  thought  nothing  of  the 
boundary  line  laid  off  against  slave  holding  Missouri."  " 

They  strove  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  their  hearers 
that  if  the  western  boundary  of  the  State  were  to  be  seven- 
teen degrees  and  thirty  minutes  west  from  Washington,  the 
limit  given  by  Congress,  it  would  mean  the  sacrifice  of  an 
area  almost  equivalent  to  one-third  "  the  amount  for  which 
they  had  petitioned.  Largely  through  their  efforts  the 
Constitution  was  rejected  in  the  April  election." 

4.     RESUBMISSION    OF    THE    CONSTITUTION    TO    THE    PEOPLE 

General  dissatisfaction  was  prevalent  among  the  Demo- 
cratic politicians  on  the  outcome.  They  asserted  that  the 
vote  was  in  no  sense  the  voice  of  the  people  upon  the  merits 
of  the  Constitution  but  merely  a  rejection  of  the  Congres- 
sional boundaries.  They  were  urgent,  therefore,  in  their 
pleadings  that  the  Constitution,  as  it  had  come  from  the 
first  convention,  should  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people 

"  Schouler,  History  of  the  United  States,  IV,  page  489.  Mr. 
Schouler  is  in  error  on  this  point.  There  had  been  a  long  contro- 
versy over  the  Missouri  boundary.  This  was  not  discussed  in 
Congress  in  connection  with  the  admission  of  Iowa.  It  was 
thought  the  question  ought  to  go  for  adjudication  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  (Congressional  Globe,  Vol. 
XIV,  Appendix,  p.  217.)  The  bill  was  filed  before  that  court  in 
behalf  of  Missouri,  Dec.  10,  1847.  After  many  contests,  the  dispute 
was  finally  settled  by  a  commission  in  1896.  So  far  as  I  am  aware, 
the  southern  boundary  was  not  referred  to  as  an  argument  against 
the  constitution. 

"^  Area  of  thirty  counties.  Iowa  Historical  Record,  July,  1896, 
p.  488. 

^^  Votes  for  the  constitution,  6023;  against  the  constitution,  7019. 
(Iowa  Capitol  Reporter,  Vol.  IV,  No.  14,  May  10,  1845.)  On  the 
same  day  a  Democratic  Delegate  to  Congress  was  chosen  by  a 
large  majority. 


369]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union^  31 

or  that  a  new  convention  should  be  called.  Through  their 
intervention,  the  governor  was  prevailed  upon  to  call  a 
special  session  of  the  Legislature."*  This  action  was  re- 
garded as  "  unprecedented,"  revolutionary,  by  the  Whig 
party  in  the  Territory. 

In  the  Legislature,  upon  the  final  passage  of  a  bill  to  re- 
submit the  original  Constitution,  the  Whigs  protested 
against  the  text  of  the  Constitution.  By  it,  they  said,  the 
atheist  is  admitted  to  all  of  the  privileges  of  a  conscientious 
witness;  the  governor  is  given  too  much  power  through 
possession  of  the  veto  which  virtually  constitutes  the  execu- 
tive a  branch  of  the  legislature.  "  It  prohibits,"  they  said: 
"  the  legislature  from  ever  adopting  a  system  of  internal 
improvements,  and  from  the  creation  of  corporations  for 
manufacturing  purposes.""  But  the  bank  clause  was  the 
most  objectionable.  While  there  was  the  privilege  to  estab- 
lish State  banks,  under  certain  conditions,  it  was  believed 
that  these  very  restrictions  would  nullify  the  whole.  It 
was  asserted:  "  No  sane  man  will  take  stock  in  a  bank 
where  the  stockholders  are  liable  in  their  individual  capac- 
ity, not  only  to  the  amount  of  stock  by  them  owned  re- 
spectively but  to  an  unlimited  extent."  Besides  it  was 
thought  that  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  would  cause 
the  disappearance  of  the  gold  and  the  silver  from  the  State 
through  the  coming  in  of  large  quantities  of  paper  money. 
"  A  little  specie  will  remain  in  the  State,"  said  one  member, 
"  but  it  will  be  an  article  of  merchandise  and  can  be  had  of 
those  consistent  advocates  of  hard  money  currency,  called 
brokers  or  shavers,  at  the  market  price  which  ranges,  at 
this  ill-fated  period,  at  from  twelve  to  fifty  per  cent." 

The  Democratic  members  met  these  attacks  on  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Constitution  with  the  often  repeated  asser- 
tion that  it  was  the  Congressional  enactment  alone  that 

"  Governor  Chambers  seemed  to  favor  a  new  convention.  Mes- 
sage, May  5,  1845,  Journal  House  of  Representatives,  Iowa  Terri- 
tory, 1845.  p.  15. 

"Journal  House  of  Representatives,  Iowa  Territory,  1845,  p.  167. 


33  Constitution  and  Admission  [370 

caused  the  defeat  at  the  polls.  The  Speaker  of  the  House" 
in  one  of  the  most  notable  speeches  made  in  favor  of  the 
bill  then  before  them,  said: 

"  A  few  contended,  that  if  the  Constitution  should  be 
adopted  by  the  people,  an  acceptance  or  ratification  of  the 
amendments  would  not  necessarily  follow  .  .  .  but  a  large 
majority  contended  that  the  questions  were  undoubtedly 
and  irrevocably  joined,  and  that  there  was  therefore  no  op- 
portunity allowed  us  to  vote  upon  them  separately.  These 
conflicting  opinions  coming  together  as  they  did  just  upon 
the  eve  of  the  election,  produced  their  natural  result — a 
general  and  wide-spread  confusion  in  the  public  mind — and, 
sir,  it  was  in  the  midst  of  this  confusion  and  because  of  this 
confusion  that  the  Constitution  went  down.  That  it  sank 
under  the  weight  of  these  fatal,  odious,  and  outrageous 
amendments  (no  one  will  pretend  to  doubt  that  such  was 
the  case)  is  to  me,  at  least,  a  not  less  painful  than  well  known 
fact,  for  I  was  in  the  field  of  its  struggles,  and  I  can  say  with 
confidence  that  I  saw  scores  of  the  most  devoted  friends  of 
the  Constitution  and  of  State  Government  march  to  the 
ballot-box  and  vote  against  the  Constitution  upon  the  simple 
and  avowed  ground  that  they  believed  that  if  they  voted  for 
it  they  would  at  the  same  time  necessarily  and  unavoidably 
vote  for  the  Congressional  boundaries  also." 

The  bill  providing  for  re-submission  was  hurriedly 
passed.*'  Governor  Chambers  refused  to  sign  it,'*  but  it 
was  promptly  passed  over  his  veto  by  a  majority  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  Legislative  Council  and  House  of  Represen- 
tatives."* 


*•  The  Honorable  James  M.  Morgan  of  Des  Moines. 

"  It  was  believed  that  Congress  would  agree  to  the  boundaries 
asked  for,  because  (i)  "of  a  sense  of  justice;  (2)  political  considera- 
tions, the  North  would  be  anxious  to  have  them  come  in  as  an 
offset  to  the  new  Senators  from  Florida."  Quoted  in  the  Iowa 
Capitol  Reporter,  June  7,  1845. 

°'  The  bill  was  vetoed  on  the  ground  that  it  should  have  been 
voted  on  by  the  people  before  it  was  submitted  to  Congress. 

'"*  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1845,  ch.  XIII,  p.  31. 


371]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union^  33 

Evidently  the  modified  Constitution  had  made  a  bad  im- 
pression upon  the  voters,  for  in  the  August  election  they 
defeated  the  original  draft."" 

V, — The  Convention  and  Constitution  of  1846 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Constitution  of  1844 
had  been  twice  rejected  by  the  people,  Governor  Clarke, 
in  his  message  to  the  Assembly  at  the  opening  of  the  regu- 
lar session  in  December,  1845,  criticised  the  work  of  the 
opponents  of  the  Constitution  and  declared  the  result  to 
have  been  produced  through  "  misrepresentation  and  mysti- 
fication." He  again  pledged  his  hearty  co-operation  with 
any  action  which  would  bring  about  the  "  speedy  incor- 
poration "  of  Iowa  into  the  Union  as  a  State."'  The  Assem- 
bly was  in  accord  with  his  opinion  and  passed  an  act,  Janu- 
ary 17,  1846,  which  provided  for  the  election  of  delegates 
to  a  Convention  for  the  purpose  of  framing  a  new  Consti- 
tution. These  delegates,  thirty-two  in  number,*''  two-thirds 
of  them  being  members  of  the  Democratic  party,  were 
elected  and  met  at  the  capitol  in  Iowa  City  on  the  fourth 
of  May.  After  a  session  of  only  sixteen  days  a  new  Con- 
stitution was  agreed  upon. 

This  Constitution  "^  was,  generally  speaking,  a  copy  of  the 
Constitution  of  1844.  Of  greatest  significance  were  the 
changed  boundaries  "  and  the  hostility  to  banks  of  whatever 
nature. 


""  Vote  for  the  constitution,  7235 ;  vote  against,  7656.  Shambaugh, 
Documentary  Material  Relating  to  the  History  of  Iowa,  No.  6, 
p.  184. 

*^  Message,  Dec.  3,  1845,  Journal  House  of  Representatives,  1842- 
45.  p.  II. 

'"  This  small  number  was  doubtless  due  to  the  spirit  of  economy. 

^  "  It  is  strictly  a  party  constitution,  full  of  ultraism  and  illiber- 
ality,  such  an  one  as  in  our  opinion  is  despotic  in  theory  and 
equally  so  in  practice.  The  Locofocos,  while  professing  love  for 
the  people,  have  bound  them  hand  and  foot."  Iowa  Capitol  Re- 
porter, June  3,   1846.     Quoted  from  Bloomington  Herald. 

"  The  convention  agreed  on  43°  30'  for  the  northern  boundary. 


34  Constitution  and  Admission  [372 

I.    THE    BANK    QUESTION 

The  bank  clause  was  attacked  with  vigor  in  the  Conven- 
tion by  the  Whig  members  and  became  the  special  mark 
for  the  shafts  of  the  press  of  that  party.  The  first  Consti- 
tution provided,  as  already  indicated,  that  no  bank  should 
be  established  unless  a  majority  of  the  electors,  at  a  regu- 
lar election,  favored  it.  But  there  was  a  general  fear,  of 
such  institutions,  prevalent  throughout  the  country.  The 
majority  in  the  Convention  determined,  while  it  was  in  their 
power,  to  rid  themselves  of  the  evil  altogether.  Accord- 
ingly they  decreed  in  the  ninth  article  of  the  Constitution 
that  no  corporate  body  should  be  created  with  the  privilege 
of  "  making,  issuing,  or  putting  in  circulation,  any  bill, 
check,  ticket,  certificate,  promissory  note  or  other  paper 
or  the  paper  of  any  bank  to  circulate  as  money,"  and  that 
the  General  Assembly  should  prohibit,  by  law,  any  person, 
persons,  or  corporation  from  exercising  the  privileges  of 
banking.  No  corporation  might  be  created  in  the  State, 
except  for  political  or  municipal  purposes.  The  stock- 
holders in  these  were  to  be  subject  to  all  liabilities  provided 
by  law  and  the  State  was  to  have  no  share  in  any  corpor- 
ation. 

This  provision  was  upheld  by  the  Democratic  party.  It 
was  maintained  that  the  people  demanded  such  a  prohibi- 
tion for  they  had  already  rejected  the  Constitution  which 
did  not  not  make  this  declaration;  that  resolutions  were 
adopted  in  nearly  every  Democratic  convention  denouncing 
banks  as  the  greatest  of  public  evils  and  asking  that  they 
be  prohibited.**  The  Whigs  believed  this  one  clause  ought 
to  be  adequate  cause  for  the  defeat  of  the  entire  instru- 
ment. They  maintained  that  by  means  of  banking  institu- 
tions trade  was  fostered;  that  there  was  good  cause  for 

but  insisted  on  the  western  boundary  fixed  in  the  Constitution  of 
1844.     The  original  area  asked  for  would  be  reduced  6289  square 
miles,    but   Congress    must  increase   its    grant   6615    square    miles. 
Congressional  Globe.  Appendix,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  669. 
'°  Iowa  Capitol  Reporter,  Vol.  V,  p.  15. 


373]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union,  35 

their  creation  for  they  were  to  be  found  in  all  of  the  States 
and  in  all  civilized  nations.  They  asserted  that  the  true 
policy  was  to  have  banks  and  a  circulating  medium  under 
State  control  rather  than  be  dependent  on  the  other  States 
for  such  a  medium;  that  there  was  no  attempt  to  prohibit 
the  circulation  of  paper  money  and  even  then  there  were 
indications  that  the  State  would  be  flooded  with  the  paper 
money  of  all  the  other  States. 

2.    OTHER     FEATURES     OF    THE    CONSTITUTION 

Objections  were  also  made  to  the  veto  power  which  had 
been  granted  to  the  governor,  "  contrary  to  the  will  of  the 
people,"  and  to  the  election  of  district  judges  directly  by 
the  people.  It  was  claimed  that  an  elective  judiciary  would 
rob  the  courts  of  justice  of  their  sacred  character;  that  such 
a  system  was  in  vogue  at  that  time  in  only  one  State,  Mis- 
sissippi, whose  public  credit  was  gone  and  where  life  and 
property  were  insecure ;  and  that  through  the  use  of  popular 
election  political  partisans  would  be  made  judges  who  in 
any  case  would  be  mere  politicians  and  of  necessity  second 
rate  men. 

Another  feature  objected  to  by  the  Whig  party  was  the 
provision  that  internal  improvements  were  to  be  carried 
on  by  direct  taxation.  It  was  held  that  if  these  improve- 
ments were  to  be  carried  on  only  in  this  way,  that  they 
would  draw  on  capital  which  might  be  employed  to  greater 
immediate  advantage  in  other  ways  and  that  it  would  pro- 
hibit the  use  of  foreign  capital  then  obtainable  at  a  reason- 
able interest."" 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  Constitution  of  1844  was 
the  clause  on  amendments  and  especially  the  distinction 
made  in  it  between  the  methods  of  amendment  and  "  re- 
vision or  change."  Amendments  were  to  be  made  by  the 
process  of  legislation  and  submission  to  the  people  as  fol- 
lows :    "  Any  amendment  or  amendments  to  this  Constitu- 

*"  Iowa  City  Standard,  July  22,  1846. 


36  Constitution  and  Admission  [374 

tion  may  be  proposed  in  the  Senate  or  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, and  if  the  same  shall  be  agreed  to  by  a  majority 
of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  of  the  two  houses,  such 
proposed  amendment  shall  be  entered  on  their  journals, 
with  the  yeas  and  nays  thereon,  and  referred  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  then  next  to  be  chosen,  and  shall  be  pub- 
lished for  three  months,  previous  to  the  time  of  making 
such  choice;  and,  if,  in  the  General  Assembly  the  next 
chosen  as  aforesaid,  such  proposed  amendment  or  amend- 
ments shall  be  agreed  to  by  a  majority  of  all  the  members 
elected  to  each  house,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
General  Assembly  to  submit  such  proposed  amendment  or 
amendments  to  the  people  in  such  manner  and  at  such  time 
as  the  General  Assembly  shall  prescribe,  and  if  the  people 
shall  approve  and  ratify  such  amendment  or  amendments 
by  a  majority  of  all  the  qualified  electors  of  the  State  voting 
for  and  against  said  amendment  or  amendments  voting  in 
their  favor,  such  amendment  or  amendments  shall  become 
part  of  this  Constitution.  .  .  .  The  General  Assembly  shall 
not  propose  the  same  amendments  to  this  Constitution 
oftener  than  once  in  six  years."  But  any  "  revision  or 
change  "  was  to  be  made  only  through  a  Convention  whose 
delegates  were  elected  for  that  purpose. 

The  Convention  of  1846  stipulated  that  no  change  what- 
ever was  to  be  made  in  the  Constitution  except  through  a 
Convention,  the  calling  of  which  had  been  sanctioned  by 
the  people  at  a  regular  election  and  whose  delegates  were 
to  be  chosen  within  six  months  after  the  people  had  agreed 
to  it.  Such  a  method  was  regarded  by  the  Whig  opposi- 
tion as  a  mere  trick  to  prohibit  amendments  altogether  and 
thus  insure  the  carrying  out  of  the  obnoxious  bank  clause 
and  the  "  principles  of  hard  money."  This  plea  was  ably 
set  forth  by  the  Whigs  and  is  said  to  have  had  much  to  do 
in  bringing  about  the  calling  of  a  new  Convention  in  1857." 

"  Some  of  the  other  modifications  of  the  Constitution  of  1844  by 
that  of  1846  were  as  follows:  i.  Any  citizen  of  the  State  who 
should  be  engaged,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  in  a  duel  was  to 


375]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union..  37 

VI. — Iowa  Becomes  a  State 

Meanwhile,  the  Iowa  Congressional  Delegate,  A.  C. 
Dodge,  introduced  a  measure  to  repeal  so  much  of  the 
original  act  as  related  to  the  boundaries  of  Iowa."  The 
discussion  of  this  bill  was  delayed  until  June  8.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  of  May  lo  indicates  the  somewhat  novel  posi- 
tion of  a  territorial  convention  and  explains  the  language 
no  longer  conciliatory,  of  its  Delegate:  '*  If  Congress  will 
give  us  our  boundary,  it  will  insure  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution;  if  they  delay  all  further  action  on  this  subject 
until  their  next  session,  it  will  not  interfere  with  its  adop- 
tion. If  adopted,  we  will  organize  the  State,  send  our 
members  and  Constitution  to  Congress,  and  risk  the  conse- 
quences. This  much  I  have  said  for  others  of  the  conven- 
tion as  well  as  myself."  " 

June  8,  the  bill  came  before  Congress  for  discussion.  It 
was  strongly  opposed  by  Rockwell  of  Massachusetts,  Rath- 
bun  of  New  York,  and  Vinton  of  Ohio.  Rockwell  advo- 
cated 42°  N.  for  the  northern  boundary  line  instead  of  43° 
30'  provided  by  the  bill.  Rathbun  asserted  that  the.  peo- 
ple had  not  rejected  the  Constitution  on  account  of  the 
boundary  provided  for,  but  because  of  dislike  for  the  prin- 
ples  in  the  constitution  itself.  He  set  forth  a  principle,  later 
of  great  moment  in  his  entreaty  to  the  House,  "  to  remem- 
ber that  one  of  the  chief  ingredients  in  our  safety  was  to 
maintain  a  due  proportion  and  balance  between  the  power 
of  the  Northern  and  the  Southern  States."  To  this  end  he 
objected  to  the  forming  of  "  large  States  at  the  North  and 

be  disqualified  from  holding  any  office  in  the  State.  2.  The  Senate 
was  to  choose  its  own  presiding  officer  instead  of  having  a  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor. 3.  The  Governor  was  to  be  elected  for  four 
years,  and  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  six  years.  4.  The 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  was  to  be  elected  by  the 
people,  instead  of  being  chosen  by  the  Legislature. 

•*  Act  of  March  3,  1845. 

"■  Letter  to  Hon.  A.  C.  Dodge  from  Enos  Lowe,  later  governor, 
dated  Iowa  City,  May  10,  1846. 


38  Constitution  and  Admission  [376 

small  ones  at  the  South."  Especially  was  this  of  importance 
when  Texas  by  her  act  of  admission  was  to  be  allowed  to 
form  "  four  or  five  States."  Vinton  again  made  a  telling 
speech.  He  set  forth  the  real  meaning  of  the  discussion 
in  his  reference  to  its  position  before  the  last  House.  "  This 
subject  of  creating  States  beyond  the  Mississippi,"  he  said, 
"  had  been  fully  discussed  and  no  question  except  that  of 
Texas  had  excited  more  interest  in  the  House."  He  even  saw 
the  conditions  which  were  to  be  almost  realized  at  the  close 
of  the  first  half  century  from  that  time  when  he  says :  "  No 
part  of  these  United  States  possesses  an  equal  capacity  for 
maintaining  an  immense  population.  .  .  .  This  valley  will 
in  process  of  time  contain  two-thirds  of  the  population  of 
the  Union.™ 

Very  interesting  is  it  to  note  the  entire  change  of  front  of 
the  Iowa  delegate,  who  shortly  before"  urged  the  people 
to  accept  the  Congressional  boundaries,  for  they  "  would 
not  be  granted  a  single  additional  square  mile  of  territory." 
Now  he  acts  under  instructions,  "  accept  no  amendment 
which  should  cut  them  oflf  from  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Missouri  rivers."  Congress,  by  the  recommended  "  arbi- 
trary and  artificial  lines,  would  cut  the  river  Des  Moines, 
which  was  the  chief  river  of  Iowa  and  on  which  the  ultimate 
seat  of  government"  must  be  placed,  directly  in  two."  "  It 
was  most  unfortunate  for  us,  sir,"  he  said,  in  answer  to  the 
opposition,  "  that  the  bill  for  our  admission  came  before  this 
House  when  gentlemen  from  a  certain  section  of  the  Union, 
however  much  they  may  attempt  to  deny  the  fact,  were 
smarting,  aye  agonizing  under  the  then  recent  annexation 
of  Texas.     In  their  frenzy  to  preserve  what  they  regarded 

"  Population  of  Iowa  in  May,  1843,  80,000.  Journal  Constitutional 
Convention  1844,  p.  208.  Population  of  Iowa  in  May,  1846,  120,000. 
Journal  Constitutional  Convention   1846,  p.  108. 

"  March  4,  1845,  Iowa  Capitol  Reporter,  March  22,  1845. 

"  By  the  Constitution  of  1857  the  capital  was  permanently  located 
at  Des  Moines,  and  as  an  offset  to  this  removal  the  State  University 
was  located  in  Iowa  City. 

See  Constitution,  1857,  Art.  X,  sec.  8. 


377]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union,  39 

as  the  balance  of  political  power  between  the  slave  and  non- 
slave-holding  States  they  were  prepared  to  do  almost  any- 
thing to  override  the  deliberately  considered  report  of  one 
of  the  most  respectable  committees  of  the  House,  and  to 
vote  in  favor  of  State  lines,  of  the  propriety  and  expediency 
of  which  they  knew  almost  nothing."  " 

During  the  months  of  June  and  July,  the  Whigs  of  Iowa 
kept  up  an  active  campaign  against  the  Constitution.  But 
it  was  of  no  avail,  for  the  Constitution  was  adopted  August 
3,  1846,  by  a  majority  of  456  votes.'* 

August  4,  President  Polk  signed  the  bill  which  provided 
for  the  boundaries  already  voted  by  the  people.  December 
28,  1846,  the  Commonwealth  of  Iowa  was  "  declared  to  be 
one  of  the  United  States  of  America." 


VII. — The  Calling  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 

OF   1857 

The  Constitution  of  1846  was  not  satisfactory  and  was 
opposed  from  the  outset.  The  clause  relative  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  banks  was  especially  obnoxious.  As  already 
noted,  it  provided  that  "  No  corporate  body  shall  hereafter 
be  created,  renewed,  or  extended  with  the  privilege  of  mak- 
ing, issuing,  or  putting  in  circulation  any  bill,  check,  ticket, 
certificate,  promissory  note,  or  other  paper,  or  the  paper 
of  any  bank,  to  circulate  as  money.  The  General  Assembly 
of  this  State  shall  prohibit  by  law,  any  person  or  persons, 
association,  company  or  corporation  from  exercising  the 
privileges  of  banking  or  creating  paper  to  circulate  as 
money."  It  was  hoped,  by  such  a  measure,  that  the  people 
of  Iowa  would  be  free  from  the  abuses  of  the  banking  sys- 
tems then  generally  prevalent  throughout  the  Union.     The 

"  Congressional  Globe,  Appendix,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  669. 

"  Iowa  City  Standard,  Sept.  16,  1846.  Shambaugh,  Documentary- 
Material  Relating  to  the  History  of  Iowa,  No.  7,  p.  213.  Number 
of  votes  for  the  Constitution,  9492;  number  of  votes  against  the 
Constitution,  9036. 


40  Constitution  and  Admission  [378 

legislature  attempted  to  enforce  this  clause  by  a  stringent 
act  to  the  effect,  that,  "  Any  attempt  to  issue  and  circulate 
bank  paper  or  paper  to  be  used  as  money,"  should  be  made 
a  penal  offense  with  a  fine  of  $1000  and  imprisonment  of  one 
year  in  the  county  jail. 

In  spite  of  such  legislation  every  expedient  -was  resorted 
to  in  order  to  evade  the  law  and  create  paper  money.  Iowa 
was  surrounded  by  States  which  allowed  the  issue  of  paper 
currency,  and  her  private  bankers  soon  learned  how  to 
supply  the  State  with  this  currency.  Much  of  it  was  of 
the  cheapest  sort  and  brought  on  the  evils  wont  to  accom- 
pany such  a  circulating  medium.  A  member  of  the  Con- 
vention of  1857  exclaimed:  "  Notwithstanding  we  are  pro- 
hibited in  Iowa  from  issuing  paper  money,  we  have  just  as 
much  bank  paper  here  as  any  State  of  the  Union  where 
banking  is  allowed,  and  we  are  cursed  with  as  worthless 
shinplasters  as  any  State  in  this  Union.  If  we  had  a  sound, 
safe,  and  reliable  circulating  medium  of  our  own  under  our 
own  control,  we  would  be  able  to  protect  the  people  from 
the  vast  amount  of  worthless  trash  now  brought  here  for 
the  purpose  of  circulation  among  us."  '" 

"Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  1857,  Vol.  I,  p.  351. 

"  This  money,  mostly  the  issues  of  the  State  stock  banks  of 
Illinois  and  other  western  States,  we  used  in  our  ordinary  business 
at  all  rates  of  discount,  as  quoted  in  the  bank  note  detectors  of 
the  time,  but  it  could  not  be  used  for  paying  taxes  or  buying 
eastern  exchange,  or  entering  public  land." 

Lathrop,  "  Some  Iowa  Bank  History,"  Iowa  Historical  Record, 
April,  1897,  p.  58. 

One  of  the  worst  ofifenders  was  the  Territory  of  Nebraska,  which 
had  been  organized  in  1855.  There  were  no  restrictions  upon  the 
power  of  the  Legislature  to  charter  all  the  banks  which  might  be 
called  for.  The  first  company  incorporated  by  the  Nebraska  Leg- 
islature was  an  Insurance  Company.  It  was  organized  March  16, 
1855,  under  the  name  of  the  Western  Fire  and  Marine  Insurance 
and  Exchange  Company.  By  a  stretch  of  the  powers  of  this 
corporation,  which  was  given  the  right  to  deal  in  all  sorts  of  ex- 
change, and  was  also  enabled  to  do  a  general  banking  business. 
"  Thus  the  wild-cat  got  itself  surreptitiously  into  existence  as  the 
Western  Exchange  Bank  of  Warren." 

Nebraska  State  Historical  Society  Collections,  II. 


379]  of  Iowa  into  the  UniofK  41 

Besides,  extortionate  rates  of  interest  were  charged,  vary- 
ing from  a  minimum  of  15  per  cent  to  25  per  cent  and  as 
high  as  50  per  cent  on  real  estate  security,'" 

The  press,  which  had  opposed  this  clause  early,  began  to 
call  for  a  convention  which  should  so  amend  the  Consti- 
tution as  to  allow  banks  to  be  created  and  thus  rid  them- 
selves of  "  shavers,  usurers,  and  extortioners."  " 

Finally,  the  minds  of  the  people  were  so  aroused  against 
the  Constitution  of  1846,  and  chiefly  against  the  anti-bank 
clause,  that  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act,  January 
24,  1855,  which  provided  for  ascertaining  the  will  of  the 
people  on  the  calling  of  a  convention  to  "  revise  or  amend 
the  Constitution."  The  result  of  such  a  vote  in  the  regular 
August  election  of  the  following  year  showed  that  there  was 
a  large  majority  in  favor  of  a  convention." 

VIII. — The  Constitutional  Convention   of   1857 

The  convention  met  at  Iowa  City,  January  19,  1857,  and 
was  in  session  until  March  5.  It  was  composed  of  thirty- 
six  members,  twenty-one  of  them  being  Republicans  and 
fifteen  Democrats." 

I.    THE    bank    problem 

It  was  acknowledged  by  the  members  of  both  political 
parties  that  some  system  of  banking  was  to  be  allowed 

This  was  the  one  institution,  among  many  others  in  Nebraska, 
which  furnished  large  quantities  of  its  bills  for  circulation  in  Iowa. 
This  bank  went  down  in  the  general  collapse  of  1857.  When  its 
affairs  were  closed  out,  it  possessed  $191.30  in  specie  and  $121  in 
bank  notes  of  banks  which  were  considered  good. 

"Iowa  Standard  I,  No.  31,  New  Series,  Jan.  20,  1847;  Dubuque 
Daily  Times,  July  24,  1857;  Constitutional  Debates,  1857,  Vol.  I, 
p.  348. 

"  Iowa  Standard,  Jan.  20,  1847. 

"  For  a  convention.  32,790  votes;  against  a  convention,-  14,160 
votes.  Shambaugh,  Documentary  Material  Relating  to  the  His- 
tory of  Iowa,  No.  8,  p.  221. 

•'  Dubuque  Daily  Republican,  July  25,  1857. 


42  Constitution  and  Admission  [380 

under  the  Constitution  which  they  were  about  to  frame."" 
No  other  question  was  discussed  at  such  length  and  the 
debates  indicate  a  careful  study  of  the  systems  then  in  vogue 
in  the  other  States.  Granted  that  they  were  to  have  banks, 
many  questions  then  arose  as  to  the  kind  which  were  to  be 
established.  Were  they  to  have  a  State  bank  with 
branches,  the  system  then  favored  in  the  other  States?  Was 
there  to  be  the  opportunity  for  the  State  Legislature  to 
establish  a  general  system  of  banking  under  proper  restric- 
tions or  was  the  way  to  be  left  open  for  the  establishment 
of  both  kinds. 

Those  favoring  the  State  bank  with  branches,  under  legis- 
lative supervision,  believed  it  would  be  the  best  system, 
for  then  there  would  be  good  reason  for  the  parent  bank 
to  keep  careful  supervision  of  the  branches.  Each  part  of 
the  system  would  thus  be  responsible  for  every  other  part. 
They  also  believed  that  with  such  a  system  the  trust  funds 
of  the  State  might  be  safely  deposited  with  them  which 
could  not  safely  be  done  under  a  general  banking  system. 
It  was  further  asserted  that  another  advantage  which  this 
plan  might  have  would  be  that  the  bills  issued  for  circula- 
tion would  pass  at  par  in  other  States  which  could  not  ob- 
tain where  local  banks  were  set  up  under  a  general  bank- 
ing law.  The  stock  argument  offered  in  favor  of  a  free 
banking  system  was  that  it  was  more  democratic.  Why 
might  not  any  one  who  could  provide  the  requisite  security 
become  a  banker  just  as  easily  as  he  might  enter  any  other 
business?  A  State  bank  with  branches,  it  was  asserted, 
is  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  monopoly.  Whatever  the 
differences  might  be  as  to  the  method  of  establishing  banks 
there  was  little  dissent  from  the  view  that  no  State  bank 
should  be  established  unless  it  were  on  an  actual  specie 
basis;  that  the  bill-holders  should  have  the  greatest  possible 
protection;  and  that  individual  stockholders  should  be  held 
for  all  liabilities. 

*°  Four  of  the  thirty-six  members  were  anti-bank  men. 


381]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union.  43 

In  the  main,  the  clause  as  finally  agreed  upon  seems  to 
resemble,  most  nearly,  the  provision  in  the  New  York  Con- 
stitution of  1846.''  It  was  provided  that  no  act  of  the 
General  Assembly  authorizing  a  corporation  or  association 
with  banking  powers  should  be  in  force  until  it  had  first 
been  determined  that  the  people  were  in  favor  of  it  as  shown 
by  a  majority  vote  at  a  special  or  general  election.  No 
State  bank  might  be  established  unless  it  were  founded 
on  an  actual  specie  basis  and  each  of  the  branches  should 
be  held  responsible  for  the  "  notes,  bills,  and  other  issues  " 
of  the  other  banks.  It  is  further  provided  that  "  if  a  gen- 
eral banking  law  shall  be  enacted,  it  should  provide  for  the 
registry  and  countersigning,  by  an  officer  of  State,  of  all 
bills  or  paper  credit  designed  to  circulate  as  money,  and 
require  security  to  the  full  amount  thereof,  to  be  deposited 
with  the  State  Treasurer,  in  United  States  stocks,  or  in 
interest-paying  stocks  of  States  in  good  credit  and  stand- 
ing, to  be  rated  at  ten  per  cent  below  their  average  value 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  for  the  thirty  days  next  preceding 
their  deposit ;  and  in  case  of  a  depreciation  of  any  portion  of 
such  stocks,  to  the  amount  of  ten  per  cent  on  the  dollar, 
the  bank  or  banks  owning  said  stocks  shall  be  required  to 
make  up  said  deficiency  by  depositing  additional  stocks; 
and  said  law  shall  also  provide  for  the  recording  of  the 
names  of  all  stockholders  in  such  corporations,  the  amount 
of  stock  held  by  each,  the  time  of  transfer  and  to  whom."  " 
Every  stockholder  is  to  be  held  responsible  to  the  bank 
creditors  over  and  above  the  amount  of  stock  held,  "  to  an 
amount  equal  to  his  or  her  respective  shares,  so  held,  for 
all  of  its  liabilities  accruing  while  he  or  she  remains  such 
stockholder."     In  case  any  banking  association  becomes 

"  "  Iowa,  in  the  same  year,  went  further  than  New  York  in  seek- 
ing to  secure  a  safe  system  of  banking.  If  a  State  bank  was  es- 
tablished by  the  Legislature,  it  should  be  founded  '  on  an  actual 
specie  basis,'  etc."  Thorpe,  Constitutional  History  of  the  Ameri- 
can People,  1776-1850,  II,  pp.  433,  434.  Evidently  the  Constitution 
of  1857  was  in  the  mind  of  the  author. 

"  Constitution  of  1857,  Art.  VIII,  sec.  8. 


44  Constitution  and  Admission  [382 

insolvent,  the  bill  holders  are  to  constitute  the  preferred 
creditors.  No  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  banking 
institutions  is  ever  to  be  allowed  and  any  change  in  the 
laws  for  creating  or  organizing  corporations  or  for  the 
granting  of  special  privileges  may  be  made  only  when 
agreed  to  by  two-thirds  of  both  branches  of  the  Legisla- 
ture." 

2.    THE    RIGHTS    OF    THE    NEGROES 

The  question  as  to  the  relative  position  which  the  negroes 
were  to  occupy  in  Iowa  was  not  of  less  interest  in  the  discus- 
sions of  the  Convention  than  those  on  the  banks.  One 
member  exclaimed:  "  From  the  commencement  of  the  ses- 
sions of  this  Convention,  this  nigger  question  has  been 
lugged  in  here  in  fifty  diflferent  propositions  and  in  fifty  dif- 
ferent ways.  The  nigger  question  seems  to  be  a  great 
theme  with  the  majority  of  this  Convention."  "  It  is  some- 
what surprising  that  there  should  have  been  so  much  atten- 
tion paid  to  it  when  there  were  at  that  time  only  some  three 
hundred  negroes  and  mulattoes  in  the  State."" 


**  The  Seventh  General  Assembly  passed  two  bills  which  pro- 
vided for  banks.  One  was  entitled  "  An  act  authorizing  general 
banking  in  the  State  of  Iowa,"  and  another,  "  An  act  to  incor- 
porate the  State  Bank  of  Iowa."  The  second  was  carried  with  a 
larger  majority  of  votes.  In  the  Senate  the  vote  stood  twenty- 
eight  to  four,  and  in  the  House,  forty-two  to  eighteen.  Both 
measures  were  adopted  by  the  people.  No  banks  were  ever  formed, 
however,  under  the  General  Banking  Law.  In  September,  1858, 
the  "  State  Bank  of  Iowa  "  and  the  "  Branches  of  the  State  Bank 
of  Iowa  "  were  organized. 

No  banking  business  proper  was  done  by  the  State  Bank.  This 
was  to  be  left  to  the  branches  after  "  at  least  five  should  be 
organized." 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  there  was  no  money  in  the 
State  Treasury,  and  the  branches  of  the  State  Bank  came  to  the 
assistance  of  the  State  by  loaning  it  the  money  necessary  to  raise 
and  equip  the  troops.  Because  of  the  heavy  taxation  on  the  issues 
of  the  State  banks,  the  State  Bank  of  Iowa  closed  up  its  business 
in  1865  and  the  branches  reorganized  as  National  Banks. 

Lathrop,  "  Some  Iowa  Bank  History." 

Iowa  Historical  Record,  April,  1897,  pp.  61-64. 

"  Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  II,  p.  826. 

"  Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  II,  p.  834. 


383]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union,  45 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Education  forced  the 
first  discussion.  This  report  recommended  that  a  school 
should  be  kept  in  each  district  at  least  three  months  in  each 
year/"  In  the  substitute  oflFered,  it  was  provided  that  there 
should  be  a  school  in  each  district  for  six  months  and  that 
such  schools  were  to  be  free  of  charge  and  open  to  all.  It 
was  felt  that  injustice  had  been  done  the  negroes  through 
a  legislative  provision  which  excluded  them  from  the 
schools  and  school  privileges  altogether."  The  sentiment 
finally  prevailed  that  natural  rights  would  be  best  protected 
if  all  children  were  to  be  granted  the  privilege  of  securing 
an  education.  A  final  substitute  stated  that  the  education 
of  "  all  the  youths  "  of  the  State  was  to  be  provided  for  in 
the  common  schools  of  the  State," 

Many  States,  and  especially  Illinois  and  Indiana,  had  pre- 
cluded negroes  from  holding  property.™  Some  of  the  dele- 
gates in  the  Convention  advocated  that  "  other  persons  not 
being  citizens,"  should  be  included  in  the  clause  which  guar- 
anteed to  foreigners  all  the  rights  of  native-born  citizens  in 
the  possession,  enjoyment  and  descent  of  property.  This 
amendment  was  lost,*"  for  it  was  believed  that  such  a  guar- 
antee would  be  an  inducement  for  large  numbers  of  negroes 
to  enter  the  State.  There  was  also  the  belief  that  since 
there  had  been  no  such  law  passed,  such  a  check  on  legis- 
lation in  the  body  of  the  Constitution  was  unnecessary. 

Of  greater  interest  still  was  the  discussion  which  arose 
over  the  right  of  negroes  to  give  testimony  in  the  courts. 
It  seems  that  the  successive  Legislatures  had,  prior  to  that 
of  1856-57,  declared  that  "  no  negro,  mulatto,  or  Indian,  or 
black  person,  should  be  a  witness  in  any  court  or  in  any 
case  against  a  white  person."  "     This  law  had  been  repealed 

"*  Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  II,  p.  825. 
"  Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  II,  p.  835. 
**  Substitute   passed   by  a  vote  of  22  in   favor  and    10  opposed. 
Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  II,  p.  837. 
*'  Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  I,  p.  132. 
""  Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  I,  p.  138. 
"  Iowa  Historical  Record,  July,  1896,  p.  490. 


46  Constitution  and  Admission  [384 

by  the  Legislature  then  recently  adjourned."  Issue  was  at 
once  taken  by  the  Democratic  party  in  their  State  Conven- 
tion, in  which  the  repeal  was  denounced.  The  Republican 
Convention  supported  the  action  of  the  Legislature  with 
equally  great  ardor.  This  act,  it  was  stated  by  the  opposi- 
tion, would  induce  large  numbers  of  negroes  to  enter  the 
State;"  that  slaves  would  be  compelled,  by  their  masters, 
to  commit  perjury;  and  that  the  negro  under  the  best  of 
conditions  did  not  possess  that  natural  integrity  to  be  found 
among  white  men.  The  decision  was  finally  made  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  an  advanced  position  at  the  time, 
that  "  any  party  to  a  judicial  proceeding  shall  have  the  right 
to  use  as  witness,  or  take  testimony  of  any  other  person  not 
disqualified  on  account  of  interest,  who  may  be  cognizant 
of  any  fact  material  to  the  case."  "* 

Was  the  militia  to  be  composed  only  of  "  all  able-bodied 
white  male  citizens  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty- 
five?  If  the  negroes  were  to  be  accorded  privileges  such  as 
the  Convention  was  inclined  to  grant  them,  then,  it  was 
thought  by  some  of  the  delegates,  they  should  be  called 
upon  also  to  defend  their  country."  It  was  claimed  that 
negroes  had  already  acquired  a  good  reputation  for  such 
services.  One  member  declared  that  there  were,  in  his 
opinion,  "  some  colored  people  who  might  be  spared  even 
to  put  into  the  first  ranks  in  case  of  an  invasion." 

By  far  the  most  notable  discussion  took  place  over  the 
resolution  that  "  at  the  same  election  in  which  the  Constitu- 
tion should  be  submitted  to  the  people  the  proposition  to 
amend  the  same  by  striking  out '  white '  whenever  it  occurs 

"^  Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  I,  p.  172. 

^  Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  I,  p.  177.  This  assertion  was 
made  many  times  regardless  of  the  fact  which  was  set  forth,  that 
Connecticut,  the  only  New  England  State  which  then  had  a  con- 
stitutional provision  recognizing  a  distinction  in  classes,  had  a 
greater  number  of  negroes  in  proportion  to  her  population  than 
"  all  other  New  England  States  together." 

"  Constitution  of  Iowa,  Art.  I,  sec.  4. 

"^  This  motion  was  lost. 


385]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union,  47 

in  the  Constitution  should  be  separately  submitted  to  the 
electors  of  the  State  for  adoption  or  rejection.'""  The 
whole  question  of  slavery  was  put  on  trial  and  party  lines 
were  closely  drawn.  Some  noteworthy  speeches  were  made 
setting  forth  the  views  then  becoming  prevalent  throughout 
the  North.  Said  one  member:"'  "Slavery  is  a  foul  politi- 
cal curse  upon  the  institutions  of  our  country;  it  is  a  curse 
upon  the  soil  of  the  country,  and  worse  than  that,  it  is  a 
curse  upon  the  poor,  free,  laboring  white  man.  I  have 
known  many  cases  of  honest,  hard-working,  plodding  white 
men,  who  have  come  to  my  native  city  for  the  purpose  of 
making  a  support  for  themselves  and  families,  and  they  have 
been  driven  away  in  consequence  of  the  degradation  at- 
tached to  labor  as  a  result  of  this  system  of  slavery.  That 
is  the  reason  that  Virginia  is  becoming  depopulated,  until 
she  has  now  become  merely  the  slave-breeding  State  of  this 
Union. 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  it  would  be  an  advantage  or  not 
to  the  negro  to  confer  upon  him  the  right  of  suffrage.  I 
have  hoped,  and  I  hope  yet,  the  day  will  come  when  the 
fetters  shall  be  stricken  from  all  this  unfortunate  race.  Aye, 
and  the  day  will  come,  as  sure  as  there  is  a  just  God  in 
Heaven.  ...  I  have  spoken  here  of  apologists  of  slavery. 
Gentlemen  say,  who  are  those  who  stand  up  here  and  de- 
fend slavery?  Is  there  any  one  here  who  advocates  slavery? 
I  tell  you,  gentlemen,  that  if  they  do  not  advocate  slavery 
with  their  lips,  in  so  many  and  direct  terms,  they  exert  an 
influence  and  power  in  regard  to  it  that  is  the  very  backbone 
of  the  institution  in  the  South.  What!  Is  the  Democratic 
party  in  favor  of  slavery?  Let  me  tell  them  that  during 
the  last  Presidential  canvass,  there  were  scattered  broadcast 
throughout  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  this  State 
speeches  delivered  by  Stephens,  Toombs  and  others,  of  the 

**  New  York  had  granted  negroes  the  privilege  of  voting,  pro- 
vided they  were  possessed  of  property  to  the  amount  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars. 

■"  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  II,  p.  682. 


48  Constitution  and  Admission  [386 

Southern  wing  of  the  Democratic  party.  In  my  own  town 
more  than  one  hundred  of  these  speeches  came  there  in  one 
package.  Who  received  and  circulated  these  speeches  of 
Stephens  and  of  Toombs,  the  Ajax  in  Congress  of  the 
Southern  and  pro-slavery  wing  of  the  Democracy?  The 
Northern  Democracy  received  and  circulated  them.  What 
did  those  speeches  contain?  They  contained  the  declaration 
that  slavery  was  a  divine  institution;  that  it  came  from 
God;  that  it  was  right  for  one  portion  of  the  human  race  to 
hold  another  portion  in  bondage;  that  slavery  was  a  be- 
neficent institution;  that  it  was  a  great  blessing  and  should 
be  extended  all  over  the  land,  so  that  wherever  the  flag  of 
our  country  should  wave,  there  the  white  man  should  be 
protected  in  his  property  in  his  fellow-man." 

This  was  replied  to  as  follows : "'  "  This  is  the  position 
which  the  Democratic  party  stand  upon.  They  say:  We 
have  made  a  contract  with  the  South.  That  contract  has 
been  sealed  with  the  best  blood  of  the  revolution,  and  was 
again  most  solemnly  declared  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
country,  that  upon  this  great  question  there  should  be  no 
politics  betwixt  us.  Let  it  alone.  Touch  it  not.  That  is 
the  language  of  Democrats,  both  North  and  South.  This 
question  shall  be  buried  deep  in  oblivion.  The  institution 
shall  be  local,  and  depend  upon  the  people  acting  as  a  peo- 
ple in  their  several  capacities  wherever  they  may  be  asso- 
ciated as  a  people,  whether  in  a  State  or  Territory.  .  .  . 
The  Democracy  of  the  North  and  the  Democracy  of  the 
South  unite  upon  that  principle.  It  is  the  principle  which 
will  hold  our  Constitution  together.  It  is  the  principle 
which  will  prevent  this  Union  from  being  severed;  and  it  is 
the  only  one.  ,.  .  .  Hence  we  continue  our  old  relations  with 
these  people.  We  stand  as  we  did  four  years  ago.  We 
stand  as  we  did  eight  years  ago.  We  stand  as  we  did  twelve 
years  ago.  And  we  can  have  a  victory  in  the  South  as 
well  as  in  the  North,  because  it  is  a  victory  without  this  agi- 

"'  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  II,  pp.  688,  689. 


387]  of  lozva  into  the  Union,  49 

tating  question  of  slavery  in  it.  We  can  fraternize  with  the 
people  then  as  we  have  ever  done.  This  is  the  reason  why 
we  are  called  by  these  flippant  speakers,  the  slaveocracy 
of  the  country.  It  is  because  we  discard  this  agitating 
question.  It  is  because  we  turn  it  over  to  the  people  to 
whom  it  belongs ;  because  we  wish  to  take  from  the  people 
of  this  State  the  power  of  governing  the  people  out  of  the 
State.  This  makes  us  odious  to  these  modern  Republi- 
cans." * 

A  few  members  favored  the  exclusion  of  negroes  from  the 
State  altogether  and  recommended  that  the  article  then 
found  in  the  Constitution  of  Indiana,  which  prohibited 
negroes  from  entering  the  State  be  adopted.'"" 

3.    OTHER    PROVISIONS    OF    THE    CONSTITUTION 

Among  the  other  significant  provisions  made  in  the  Con- 
stitution are:  The  security  of  the  School  and  the  University 
funds;  the  location  of  the  capital  at  Des  Moines  and  the 
State  University  at  Iowa  City;  and  the  method  of  passing 
bills  by  the  State  Legislature,  The  school  funds  of  the 
State  had  been  much  reduced  because  of  mismanagement, 
and  it  was  thought  best  to  provide  against  any  future  per- 
manent loss  to  these  important  funds  by  making  adequate 
constitutional  provision  against  it.  This  condition  was  met 
by  the  following  clause : "'     "  All  losses  to  the  permanent 

'^  The  proposition  to  strike  out  the  word  "  white "  from  the 
Constitution  failed  in  the  August  election  by  a  vote  of  40,000. 
Daily  North  West,  Sept.  18,  1857. 

'°*  Iowa  Constitutional  Debates,  Vol.  II,  p.  913.  The  question 
was  lost  by  a  vote  of  25  to  8. 

'"  Constitution,  Art.  VII,  see.  3.  Other  changes  made  were: 
The  period  in  which  the  census  was  to  be  taken  was  changed  from 
two  years  to  ten  years  (Art.  Ill,  sec.  33).  The  Governor's  term  of 
office  was  fixed  at  two  years  (Art.  IV,  sec.  2).  A  Lieutenant- 
Governor  was  also  to  be  chosen.  He  is  to  be  ex-officio  president 
of  the  Senate  and  to  succeed  the  Governor  in  case  of  his  death, 
resignation  or  inability  to  serve  (Art.  IV,  sees.  3,  17,  18).  The 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  are  to  be  elected  by  the  people  (Art. 
V",  sec.   3).     An   Attorney- General   and   District   Attorney    is   pro- 


50  Constitution  and  Admission  [388 

school  or  University  fund  of  this  State,  which  shall  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  defalcation,  mismanagement,  or 
fraud  of  the  agents  or  ofificers  controlling  and  managing 
the  same,  shall  be  audited  by  the  proper  authorities  of  the 
State.  The  amount  so  audited  shall  be  a  permanent  funded 
debt  against  the  State,  in  favor  of  the  respective  fund,  sus- 
taining the  loss,  upon  which  not  less  than  six  per  cent  an- 
nual interest  shall  be  paid.  The  amount  of  liability  so  cre- 
ated shall  not  be  counted  as  a  part  of  the  indebtedness  au- 
thorized by  the  second  section  of  this  article." 

In  Iowa,  as  in  most  of  the  new  States,  local  feeling  was 
aroused  through  the  attempt  to  agree  on  permanent  loca- 
tions for  the  various  State  institutions.  Here,  as  elsewhere, 
the  connection  between  such  institutions  and  the  rise  of  land 
values  was  not  lost  sight  of.  An  act  had  already  been 
passed  by  the  Legislature,  providing  for  the  removal  of  the 
capital  from  Iowa  City  to  Fort  Des  Moines.  Was  this  act 
to  be  made  a  part  of  the  Constitution?  Many  accusations 
of  bribery  were  made  against  the  legislators  who  had  sanc- 
tioned the  change.  The  following  measure,  largely  a  com- 
promise, was  adopted:  "  The  seat  of  government  is  hereby 
permanently  established,  as  now  fixed  by  law,  at  the  city 
of  Des  Moines,  in  the  county  of  Polk;  and  the  State  Uni- 
versity at  Iowa  City,  in  the  county  of  Johnson."  ""' 

The  Constitution  guards,  too,  against  the  harmful  legis- 
lation which  is  wont  to  occur  in  the  closing  days  of  a 
Legislature.""  It  says :  "  No  bill  shall  be  passed  unless  by 
the  assent  of  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each 
branch  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  question  upon  the 

vided  for,  to  be  elected  by  the  people  (Art.  V,  sees.  12,  13).  The 
limitation  of  State  indebtedness  is  increased  (Art.  VII,  sec.  2). 
A  permanent  school  fund  is  insured  (Art.  VII,  sec.  3).  Amend- 
ment might  be  made  by  the  legislature  or  a  convention.  The 
question  of  the  convention  is  to  be  voted  on  by  the  people  every 
ten  years  (Art.  X).     Debates  of  Convention,  Vol.  II,  p.  1066  et  seq. 

"^  Constitution,  Art.  XI,  sec.  8. 

""  Constitution,  Art.  Ill,  sec.  17. 


389]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union,  51 

final  passage  shall  be  taken  immediately  upon  its  last  read- 
ing, and  the  yeas  and  nays  entered  upon  the  journal." 

The  Democratic  press  and  party  opposed  the  Constitu- 
tion from  the  outset.'"  Are  the  lectors  willing,  the  question 
was  asked,  to  change  their  organic  law  to  benefit  the  mon- 
eyed interest  and  Black  Republican  party  of  this  State, 
whose  great  object  is  to  create  a  wild-cat  system  of  banking 
and  place  the  negra  upon  an  equality  with  the  white  man. 
There  was  one  change  only  which  was  conceded  to  be  nec- 
essary. By  this,  the  time  of  the  general  election  was  placed 
in  October  instead  of  August.'"* 

IX. — Amendments  of  the  Constitution 

The  Constitution  of  1857  has  been  amended  four  times. 
The  first  amendments  were  approved  by  the  Eleventh  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  April  2,  1868,  by  the  Twelfth  General  Assem- 
bly, March  31,  1868,  and  received  the  required  majority 
vote  of  the  people  in  the  general  election  of  that  year."" 
These  amendments,  dealing  wholly  with  the  status  of  the 
negroes,  were  as  follows: 

1.  Strike  the  word  "  white  "  from  Section  one  of  Article 
two  thereof.'"' 

2.  Strike  the  word  "  white  "  from  Section  thirty-three  of 
Article  three  thereof."" 


'"  North  Iowa  Times,  June  26,  1857;  Dubuque  Daily  Times,  July 
25,  1857.  Votes  cast  in  favor  of  the  Constitution,  40,311;  votes  cast 
against  the  Constitution,  38,681.  Shambaugh,  Documentary  Ma- 
terial Relating  to  the  History  of  Iowa,  No.  8,  p.  260. 

"'  Changed  to  Tuesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  in  November 
by  the  amendment  of  Nov.  4,  1884. 

'°*  Shambaugh,  Documentary  Material  Relating  to  the  History  of 
Iowa,  No.  8,  pp.  260-267;  Horak.  Constitutional  Amendments  in 
the  Commonwealth  of  Iowa,  pp.  30-32. 

"'  This  amendment  gave  the  negro  the  right  of  suffrage.  Votes 
in  favor  of  the  amendment,  105,384;  votes  against  the  amendment, 
81,119. 

^"^  By  this  amendment  the  negroes  were  included  in  the  State 
census.  Votes  favoring  the  amendment,  105,498;  votes  opposed  to 
the  amendment,  81,050. 


52  Constitution  and  Admission  [390 

3.  Strike  the  word  "  white  "  from  Section  thirty-four  of 
Article  three  thereof. 

4.  Strike  the  word  "  white  "  from  Section  thirty-five  of 
Article  three  thereof."™ 

5.  Strike  the  word  "  white  "  from  Section  one  of  Article 
six  thereof."" 

But  the  negro  was  still  precluded  from  being  elected  to 
the  State  Legislature.  This  political  inequality  between  the 
two  races  was  erased  through  an  amendment  to  the  Consti- 
tution finally  adopted  November  2,  1880."' 

March  17,  1880,  the  celebrated  prohibitory  amendment 
was  passed  by  the  Eighteenth  General  Assembly.  This 
proposed  to  add  to  Article  one,  Section  twenty-six  as  fol- 
lows :  "  No  person  shall  manufacture  for  sale,  or  sell  or 
keep  for  sale  as  a  beverage,  any  intoxicating  liquors  what- 
ever, including  ale,  wine  and  beer.  The  General  Assembly 
shall  by  law  prescribe  regulations  for  the  enforcement  of  the 
prohibition  herein  contained  and  shall  thereby  provide  suit- 
able penalties  for  the  violation  hereof."  '"  The  act  was 
approved  by  the  Nineteenth  General  Assembly,  March  13, 
1882,  and  was  submitted  to  the  people  at  a  special  election, 
June  27,  1882."'     A  large  majority  of  votes  was  recorded 

*°*  By  these  changes  the  negro  was  included  in  the  basis  of  rep- 
resentation for  the  election  of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  the 
General  Assembly.  Votes  in  favor  of  amendment,  3,105,524;  votes 
opposed  to  amendment,  3,081,038;  votes  favoring  amendment,  4,- 
105,502;  votes  opposed  to  amendment,  4,080,929. 

""  This  amendment  included  the  negro  in  the  State  militia. 
Votes  for  the  amendment,  105,515;  votes  opposed  to  the  amend- 
ment, 81,050. 

^"  By  this  amendment  the  words  "  free  white  "  were  struck  from 
the  third  line  of  sec.  4,  Art.  III.  Votes  in  favor,  90,237;  votes 
opposed,  51,943.  Shambaugh,  Documentary  Material  Relating  to 
the  History  of  Iowa,  No.  8,  p.  272. 

^"  Reprinted  from  the  Acts  of  the  Eighteenth  General  Assembly 
of  the  State  of  Iowa,  p.  215.  Given  in  Shambaugh,  Documentary 
Material  Relating  to  the  History  of  Iowa,  No.  8,  p.  273. 

'"  Shambaugh,  Documentary  Material  Relating  to  the  History  of 
Iowa,  No.  8,  pp.  274,  275. 


391]  of  Iowa  into  the  Union,  53 

in  its  favor/"  but  it  was  declared  invalid  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State."* 

A  joint  resolution  passed  the  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth 
Assemblies  of  the  State  and  became  a  part  of  the  funda- 
mental law  after  receiving  a  majority  vote  of  the  people, 
November  4,  1884.  These  amendments  provided:  i.  The 
general  election  for  State,  district,  county,  and  township 
officers  shall  be  held  on  the  Tuesday  next  after  the  first 
Monday  in  November.""  At  any  regular  session  of  the 
General  Assembly,  the  State  may  be  divided  into  the  nec- 
essary judicial  districts  for  district  court  purposes,  or  the 
said  districts  may  be  reorganized  and  the  number  of  the 
districts  and  the  judges  of  said  courts  increased  or  dimin- 
ished; but  no  reorganization  of  the  districts  or  diminution 
of  the  judges  shall  have  the  effect  of  removing  a  judge  from 
office."' 

3.  The  Grand  Jury  may  consist  of  any  number  of  mem- 
bers not  less  than  five,  nor  more  than  fifteen,  as  the  General 
Assembly  may  by  law  provide,  or  the  General  Assembly 
may  provide  for  holding  persons  to  answer  for  any  criminal 
ofifense  without  the  intervention  of  a  Grand  Jury,"' 

4.  That  Section  13  of  Article  V  of  the  Constitution  be 
stricken  therefrom,  and  the  following  adopted  as  such  sec- 
tion. Section  13.  The  qualified  electors  of  each  county 
shall,  at  the  general  election  in  the  year  1886,  and  every 
two  years  thereafter,  elect  a  county  attorney,  who  shall  be  a 
resident  of  the  county  for  which  he  is  elected,  and  shall 

'"Votes  in  favor  of  the  amendment,  155,436;  votes  opposed,  125,- 
677;  scattered  votes,  36.  Shambaugh,  Documentary  Material  Re- 
lating to  the  History  of  Iowa.  No.  8,  p.  276. 

"*  Horak,  Constitutional  Amendments  in  the  Commonwealth  of 
Iowa,  p.  32.  In  the  test  case  of  Koehler  vs.  Lange,  60  Iowa  Re- 
ports, p.  543.  The  decision  was  based  on  the  argument  that  in  its 
transmission  from  the  Eighteenth  to  the  Nineteenth  General 
Assembly,  there  had  been  a  change  in  the  meaning  and  effect  of 
the  amendment. 

"*  Votes  cast  in  favor  of,  89,342;  votes  cast  against,  14,940. 

'"Votes  in  favor  of,  64,960;  votes  against,  33,868. 

"*  Votes  for,  72,591 ;  votes  against,  30,343. 


54  Constitution  and  Admission  of  Iowa,  etc.         [393 

hold  his  office  for  two  years,  and  until  his  successor  shall 
have  been  elected  and  qualified."" 

The  Constitution  of  1857  is  still  in  force  in  Iowa.  Many 
other  attempts  have  been  made  to  amend  it,  but  these  re- 
quests have  never  received  the  requisite  legislative  sanction. 
That  the  people  have  been,  in  general,  well  satisfied  with 
their  Constitution  has  been  demonstrated  by  the  very  large 
majority  of  votes  cast  against  the  proposition :  "  Shall  there 
be  a  Convention  to  Revise  the  Constitution  and  Amend  the 
Same,"  in  the  years  1870,  1880  and  1890.'"" 

"■  Votes  cast  for,  67,621 ;  votes  cast  against,  32,902. 

"°  In  1870,  votes  favoring  a  convention,  24.846;  votes  against, 
82,039.  In  1880,  votes  favoring,  69,762;  votes  against,  83,784.  In 
1890,  votes  favoring  a  convention,  27,806;  votes  against,  159,394. 
Reprinted  from  Election  Records.  Shambaugh,  Documentary  Ma- 
terial Relating  to  the  History  of  Iowa,  No.  8,  pp.  281-283. 


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Pakt  I.    Opinion  of  Americans  Abroad. 

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10   224 

The  Diplomatic  Relations  of  tlie  United 
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By  JOHN  H.  LATANE,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  History  in  Kandolph-Macon  Woman'' s  College. 


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